Division 
Range 

Shelf. 

• 

Received 


University  of  California. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


OF  THE 


TROY,  N.  Y., 


HELI3    JTJNE    14-18, 


WITH 


CATALOGUE  OF  OFFICERS  AND  STUDENTS, 


1824-1874. 


TROY,  N.  Y. : 
WM.  H.  YOUNG,  8  &  9  FIRST  STREET. 

1878. 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


OF  THE 


RESOLUTION. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Association  of  Graduates  of  the 
Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  held  June  26th,  1872,  the 
following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz  : 

WHEREAS,  It  is  deemed  expedient  to  take  suitable  notice 
of  the  close  of  the  first  fifty  years'  work  of  the  Institute. 

RESOLVED,  That  Prof.  Charles  Drowne,  Prof.  H.  B. 
Nason,  Charles  F.  Winslow,  Rev.  ].  H.  Brodt  and  W.  H. 
Doughty,  be  a  committee  to  make  all  necessary  arrangements 
for  a  semi-centennial  celebration. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Association,  held  June  i8th,  1873,  it 
was  resolved  that  the  services  of  the  above  committee  be 
continued,  in  connection  with  the  Directors,  for  the  ensuing 
year. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  graduates,  former  students  and  friends 
of  the  Institute,  residing  in  Troy,  held  at  the  Board  of 
Trade  Rooms,  April  23d,  1874,  Dr.  R.  B.  Bontecou  in  the 
Chair,  A.  J.  Swift,  Secretary,  the  following  local  sub-com- 
mittees were  appointed  : 


4  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

<t 
LOCAL  SUB-COMMITTEES. 

On  Reception.-K.vb.  Win.  Gurley,  G.  H.  Starbuck,  G.  B. 
Wallace,  B.  C.  Gowing,  H.  M.  Geer,  D.  M.  Greene,  I.  F. 
Bosworth. 

On  Finance. — E.  Thompson  Gale,  J.  Hobart  Warren,  J. 
W.  Fuller,  T.  A.  Tillinghast,  J.  M.  Landon,  Dr.  R.  B.  Bonte- 
cou,  Wm.  H.  Young. 

On  Entertainment. — J.  H.  Quackenbush,  E.  W.  Arms,  W. 
A.  Peck,  H.  B.  Dauchy,  P.  H.  Baermann,  T.  C.  Walbridge, 
Dascom  Greene. 

On  Excursion.— Hon.  Uri  Gilbert,  W.  A.  Shepard,  H.  B. 
Nason. 

On  Alumni  Dinner— H.  B.  Nason,  E.  G.  Gilbert,  R.  H. 
Thompson,  W.  T.  Kellogg,  A.  J.  Swift. 

FIRST  CIRCULAR. 

On  the  ist  of  May,  the  following  circular  was  sent  to  all 
persons  who  have  attended  the  Institute,  whose  residence 
could  be  ascertained  : 

The  Sixth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  Grad- 
uates of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  will  be  held 
June  i6th,  1874,  at  2:30  o'clock  p.  M.,  in  the  Institute  Hall. 

The  exercises  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Celebration  will 
commence  Sunday,  June  i4th,  and  close  Thursday,  June 
i8th.  Besides  the  usual  reading  of  theses,  and  conferring 
of  degrees,  arrangements  are  being  made  for  addresses, 
receptions,  an  alumni  dinner,  one  or  more  excursions,  and  a 
grand  reunion  on  Thursday  Evening. 

A  cordial  invitation  is  extended  not  only  to  graduates,  but 
to  all  who  have  ever  been  connected  with  the  Institute  and 
to  their  families,  to  be  present  and  participate  in  these 
exercises. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


5 


Special  arrangements  will  be  macle  with  the  proprietors 
of  the  several  hotels  for  the  accommodation  of  visitors  at 
reduced  rates,  and  many  citizens  have  signified  their  desire 
to  extend  hospitality. 

In  order  that  all  may  be  provided  for  without  confusion 
or  delay,  it  is  requested  that  persons  intending  to  be  present 
at  the  meeting  notify  this  fact  to  the  Secretary  before  the 
ist  of  June  when  practicable,  and  also  when  possible  state 
the  day  they  will  arrive,  so  that  the  Committee  may  engage 
rooms  at  the  hotels  or  in  private  families,  as  they  may  desire. 
On  receipt  of  such  communication  a  second  circular  will  be 
forwarded  immediately. 

Copies  of  this  circular  will  be  supplied  to  any  who  may 
desire  them,  and  all  are  earnestly  requested  to  make  the 
above  known  as  far  as  possible. 

H.  B.  NASON,  Secretary. 

OFFICERS  OF  ALUMNI  ASSOCIATION  FOR  1874. 

President. — Strickland  Kneass. 

Vice-Presidents.—^..  C.  Boiler,  A.  J.  Cassatt,  Frederic 
Grinnell. 

Treasurer. — David  M.  Greene, 

Secretary. — H.  B.  Nason. 

Directors. — William  Gurley,  E.  Thompson  Gale,  G.  H. 
Starbuck,  Henry  Burden,  Jr.,  Dascom  Greene. 


6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

SECOND  CIRCULAR. 

TROY,  N.  Y.,  June  ist,  1874. 

The  special  object  of  this  circular  is  to  afford  information 
in  regard  to  the  time  and  order  of  the  various  exercises  of 
Commencement  week,  and  to  give  some  directions  for  the 
convenience  of  those  who  may  attend. 

The  Committee  on  Reception  will  be  in  waiting  at  the 
Union  Railroad  Depot  in  Troy,  on  the  arrival  of  trains,  to 
direct  visitors  to  the  office  of  the  Local  Committee  at  the 
store  of  Messrs.  Gurley,  near  the  north  end  of  the  depot, 
where  after  recording  their  names,  information  will  be 
furnished  in  regard  to  lodgings  in  hotels,  private  families,  &c. 

In  order  that  all  may  be  provided  for  without  confusion 
or  delay,  it  is  requested  that  persons  intending  to  be  present 
at  the  meeting  notify  this  fact  to  the  Secretary  before  the 
icth  of  June  when  practicable,  and  also  when  possible  state 
the  day  when  they  will  arrive,  so  that  the  Committee  may 
engage  rooms  at  the  hotels  or  in  private  families,  as  they 
may  desire. 

(Here  followed  Programme,  for  which  see  page  7.) 

A  cordial  invitation  is  given  to  all  who  have  ever  been 
connected  with  the  Institute,  and  to  their  families  to  be 
present  and  participate  in  the  above  exercises. 

Copies  of  this  circular  will  be  supplied  to  any  who  may 
desire  them,  and  all  are  earnestly  requested  to  make  the 
above  known  as  far  as  possible. 

H.  B.  NASON,  Secretary. 

P.  S. — A  large  number  of  graduates  and  others  have 
already  signified  their  intention  to  be  present,  and  everything 
now  promises  a  very  large  and  interesting  meeting. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


PROGRAMME. 


SUNDAY,  JUNE  14. 

10:30  A.  M.  Sermon  by  Rev.  G.  N.  Webber,  D.  D.  First 
Presbyterian  Church. 

MONDAY,  JUNE  15. 

10:00  A.  M.  Reading  of  Theses  by  members  of  Graduat- 
ing Class.  Institute  Hall. 

4:00  P.  M.  Single  Scull  and  Tub  Races.    Laureate  Course. 

8:00  P.  M.  Concert  by  Institute  Glee  Club,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  R.  P.  I.  Rowing  Association.  Rand's  Hall. 

TUESDAY,  JUNE  16. 

10:00  A.  M.  Reading  of  Theses  by  members  of  Graduat- 
ing Class.  Institute  Hall. 

2:30  P.  M.  Meeting  of  Alumni.  Institute  Hall.  Address 
by  Alfred  P.  Boiler,  C.  E.,  Presiding  Officer.  Reports  of 
Committees.  Information  concerning  Graduates  and  former 
Students  of  the  Institute.  Miscellaneous  Business. 

4:30  P.  M.  Dedication  of  the  Eaton  Monument.  Oak- 
wood  Cemetery.  Prayer  by  Rev.  H.  N.  Brinsmade,  D.  D., 
of  Newark,  N.  J.  Addresses  by  Prof.  James  Hall,  LL.  D., 
Albany  ;  Hon.  Martin  I.  Townsend,  LL.  D.,  Troy,  and  Prof. 
H.  B.  Nason,  R.  P.  I. 

A  special  train  of  cars  will  leave  Union  Depot  for 
Oakwood  at  4:00  o'clock,  p.  M.,  and  returning,  leave  Oak- 
wood  at  5:45  P.  M. 


8  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

7:30  p.  M.  Address  of  Welcome  by  President  James 
Forsyth.  Addresses  by  Prof.  E.  N.  Horsford,  of  Cambridge, 
Mass., — Subject,  "  America  at  the  Vienna  Exposition  ";  and 
Henry  Sedley,  Esq.,  of  New  York, — Subject,  "  The  En- 
gineer in  Eldorado."  Rand's  Hall.  Music  by  Boring's 
Orchestra. 

Reception  by  His  Honor,  William  Kemp,  Mayor  of  Troy, 
to  the  Alumni  of  the  Institute. 

WEDNESDAY,  JUNE  17. 

10:30  A.  M.  Alumni  meeting.  Address  by  Prof.  James 
Hall,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.  Notice  of  Memorial  Windows  by 
Prof.  H.  B.  Nason.  Address  by  Norman  Stratton,  Esq.,  of 
New  York.  Institute  Hall. 

2:00  P.  M.  Alumni  dinner.  Poem  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler,  of 
New  York.  Harmony  Hall.  Music  by  Boring's  Orchestra. 

8:00  P.  M.  Graduating  Exercises,  and  Address  by  the 
President  of  the  Institute,  Hon.  James  Forsyth.  Rand's 
Hall. 

THURSDAY,  JUNE  18. 

9:00  A.  M.  Excursion  to  Saratoga.  1:00  p.  M.  Binner  at 
Grand  Union  Hotel,  Saratoga. 

8:00  p.  M.  Closing  Exercises,  and  Promenade  Concert. 
Harmony  Hall. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


SUNDAY,  JUNE  14. 


SERMON,  I 


REV.   GEORGE   N.  WEBBER,  D.  D 
PASTOR  OF  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


During  a  long  and  somewhat  eventful  history,  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  has  been  frequently  thrown  open  for 
gatherings  of  great  local  interest  and  importance.  Many 
will  recall  the  varied  objects  for  which  these  gatherings  were 
held,  and  the  crowds  which  attended  them.  In  all  its  history 
the  old,  yet  new  edifice,  never  contained  an  audience  more 
remarkable  than  that  which  assembled  on  this  occasion. 
The  middle  portion  of  the  Church  was  occupied  by  the 
trustees,  faculty,  students  and  alumni,  and  the  remainder 
was  filled  to  overflowing  by  friends  of  the  Institute. 

A  large  number  of  chairs  were  placed  in  the  aisles,  but 
still  many  went  away  unable  to  procure  seats. 

The  pulpit  and  immediate  vicinity  were  profusely  dec- 
orated with  flowers. 

The  services  began  at  8  o'clock,  with  a  short  voluntary 
upon  the  organ  by  the  organist,  S.  B.  Saxton,  Esq.  The 
Anthem  "Cantate  Domino  in  C,"  by  Dudley  Buck,  was 
rendered  by  the  Choir,  and  the  congregation  joined  in  sing- 
ing the  hymn  "  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name." 
2 


I0  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Before  commencing  his  discourse,  the  speaker  congrat- 
ulated all  connected  with  the  Institute  upon  their  celebra- 
tion of  its  fiftieth  anniversary,  and  then  alluded  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Beman,  who  for  forty  years  filled  the  pulpit  of  this 
Church  and  was  also  during  some  of  those  years  President 
of  the  Institute,  and  lecturer  in  one  of  its  departments,  and 
who,  were  he  living,  would  have  entered  most  heartily  into 
the  exercises  and  festivities  of  the  occasion,  and  gladly 
welcomed  them  to  this  place.  Although  a  stranger  to  most, 
the  speaker  added,  so  large  a  portion  of  his  public  life  has 
been  spent  in  institutions  of  learning  that  he  could  thor- 
oughly sympathize  with  those  present  in  their  pursuits. 


THE  MORAL  INFLUENCE  OF  TRUE  SCIENCE. 


"  Knowledge  puffeth  up,  but  Charity  edifieth.  And  if  any  man  think 
he  knoweth  anything  he  knoweth  nothing  yet  as  he  ought  to  know." — 
I  Cor.  viii,  I,  2. 

Too  profound  a  thinker  was  the  Apostle  Paul  to  accept, 
save  for  convenience  of  naming,  the  distinction  so  often 
made  of  knowledge,  secular  and  divine.  All  knowledge  is  of 
God,  as  all  being  is  of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  for  Him. 
Nature  is  the  manifestation  of  the  unseen  thought  and  will 
which  originated  it,  and  acts  in  it  all.  He  who  learns  the 
structure  and  organization  of  a  plant  or  animal ;  the  ele- 
ments of  bodies,  and  their  modes  of  combination  ;  the  laws 
of  force  and  motion  ;  the  features  of  the  earth's  crust,  and 
where  is  the  place  of  gold  and  the  vein  of  silver ;  the  condi- 
tions that  regulate  the  currents  of  air  and  vapor ;  the  balancing 
of  the  clouds,  the  fall  of  the  dew,  the  track  of  the  storm, 
and  "  the  way  of  the  lightning  of  the  thunder  "  ;  the  place 
of  the  sea  and  the  courses  of  the  rivers  ;  the  laws  that  "bind 
the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades  "  and  "  guide  Arcturus 
with  his  sons,"  the  order  of  human  history  and  the  opera- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  1 1 

tions  of  the  heart  and  mind  of  man  ;  he  who  learns  any  of 
these  truths  that  belong  to  the  several  sciences,  reads  in 
every  one  of  them  a  thought  and  volition  of  God  ! 

The  nineteenth  Psalm,  beginning  with  a  rapturous  descrip- 
tion of  the  glory  of  God  which  "the  Heaven's  declare," 
passes  abruptly  to  mention  "  the  law  of  the  Lord  that  is 
perfect,  converting  the  soul,"  binding  thus  the  two  books 
Nature  and  Revelation  into  one  volume,  showing  the  writer's 
insight  of  the  oneness  of  natural  and  spiritual  truth.  The 
Bible  expresses  the  direct  relation  of  man  to  God,  as  science 
does  the  indirect,  through  the  media  of  Nature.  Let  us  not 
forget  it.  We  live  in  an  awful  divine  world,  blazing  every- 
where with  the  forth-beamings  of  a  spiritual  presence  and 
power.  Search  for  truth,  no  matter  where,  is  search  for  God, 
"  who  is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us."  The  only  real 
distinction  in  knowledge  is  not  what,  but  what  manner  of 
spirit. 

To  this  the  text  fastens  attention.  "  If  any  man  think  he 
knoweth  anything  he  knoweth  nothing  as  he  ought  to  know." 
The  last  words  are  the  point  of  the  sentence.  There  is  an 
ethics  of  science  ;  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  to  know  any- 
thing, be  it  Bible  or  nature,  arithmetic  or  the  catechism. 
There  is  a  knowledge  that  puffeth  up,  and  there  is  a  knowl- 
edge that  edifieth,  and  the  difference  is  not  in  the  depart- 
ment, but  in  the  spirit  and  purpose  which  the  student  carries 
into  his  pursuit.  Here  is  the  distinction  between  true 
science  and  science  "  falsely  so  called."  And  this  brings  me 
the  topic  whereof  I  have  a  mind  to  speak  at  this  time. 

THE    MORAL    USES    OF    TRUE    SCIENCE. 

By  moral,  I  mean  the  influence  on  the  character  of  the 
student.  Here  is  found  the  highest  use  and  worth  of 
knowledge.  As  a  means  of  enriching  the  material  conditions 
of  man,  science  has  a  value.  I  do  not  mean  to  underrate 
this  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge.  Mind,  through  the  body, 
feeds  on  the  juices  of  the  plant  as  does  the  tree,  converting 
them  into  its  own  substance.  Diogenes  of  Apoloniawas  not 
all  astray  when  he  accounted  for  the  superior  intelligence  of 
man,  to  that  of  the  prone  and  earth-bowed  beasts,  from  the 


12  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

purer  air  he  breathed  and  the  drier  nature  of  his  food. 
Whatever  helps  production  and  multiplies  wealth,  aids  the 
growth  of  mind.  Here  is  the  worth  of  science  in  the 
economic  point  of  view.  It  may  unearth  the  hid  treasures  in 
nature's  field,  harness  her  obedient  forces  to  our  service, 
span  the  Continent  with  railways  and  telegraphs,  fertilize 
soils,  set  the  streams  to  work,  till  the  land  hums  with  fac- 
tories, and  rivers  groan  under  the  burdens  of  commerce,  and 
the  graneries  are  bursting  with  the  finest  of  wheat  ;  but 
unless  this  material  product  can  be  coined  into  character — 
this  material  force  transmuted  in  mental  force,  and  men  and 
women  grew  big  and  fair  on  this  augmented  nutriment,  it  is 
all  as  cheap  as  the  dirt  out  of  which  it  grew. 

I  say  these  things  "  in  limine  "  because  so  many  in  our 
times  think  chiefly  of  the  material  gain  that  experimental 
science  has  given  to  man.  Once  men  said  knowledge  is 
power — that  was  selfishness.  Now  men  say  of  knowledge, 
there  is  money  in  it,  that  is  meaner  still ;  as  if  nature  were  a 
pocket  to  be  rifled  and  not  a  spectacle  to  be  studied  and 
adored  !  I  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  knowledge  is  character. 
Its  fruit  is  manhood.  By  this  alone,  its  real  worth  is  to  be 
estimated.  We  will  omit  then  from  our  thought  "  the  bread 
and  butter  view  "  of  science  and  ask  ourselves  what  qualities 
of  soul  knowledge  must  beget  in  the  student ;  what  purpose 
must  inspire  him  who  knows  anything  "  as  he  ought  to  know" 

I.  The  first  fruit  of  true  knowledge  is  humility.  Sound 
science  is  modest.  Men  deepest  in  the  secret  of  nature, 
mind,  God,  have  usually  been  humble.  Socrates  was  pro- 
nounced by  the  Delphian  oracle  to  be  the  wisest  of  men, 
because  he  did  not  seem  to  himself  to  be  wise  :  did  not  think 
he  knew  anything.  There  was  truth  as  well  as  wit  in  that 
repartee  of  one,  who,  when  an  angry  disputant  said  to  him, 
"  You  are  a  fool  and  you  know  it,"  replied  :  "  In  that  case  I 
am  wiser  than  you,  for  you  are  a  fool  and  don't  know  it." 
The  sciolist  is  puffed  up.  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous 
thing,  for  it  makes  a  man  swell. 

"  The  sciences,"  says  Pascal,  "  have  two  extremities  that 
touch  each  other.  The  one  is  that  native  ignorance  in  which 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  I^ 

we  are  born  ;  the  other  the  point  to  which  the  greatest  minds 
attain,  who,  having  gone  the  whole  round  of  possible  knowl- 
edge, find  that  they  know  nothing,  and  that  they  end  in  the 
same  ignorance  in  which  they  began.  But  then  this  last  is 
an  intelligent  ignorance  which  knows  itself.  Out  of  the  many, 
however,  who  come  forth  from  their  native  ignorance  there 
are  some  who  never  reach  this  other  extreme.  These  are 
strongly  tinged  with  scientific  conceit  and  set  up  the  claim 
to  be  learned."  In  the  same  strain  Hamilton  :  "  There  are 
two  ignorances.  We  start  from  one,  we  repose  in  the  other, 
and  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  is  but  a  course  between  the 
two,  as  human  life  is  a  traveling  from  grave  to  grave.  The 
highest  reach  of  human  science  is  a  scientific  recognition  of 
ignorance  and  its  first  fruit  is  humility." 

Authorities  aside,  I  appeal  to  experience."  Somewhat  of 
the  middle  of  things  we  know,  but  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  anything  who  can  understand  either  ?  Astronomy, 
pushing  her  research  into  trackless  voids,  never  plants  her 
foot  on  the  outposts  of  space  ;  nor  has  the  chemist  in  his 
subtlest  analysis  caught  the  simple  atom.  The  smallest 
thing  is  a  universe 

"  Where  suns  and  systems  inconspicuous  float." 

A  cloud  hangs^over  either  end  of  the  narrow  span  along 
which  the  toiling  intellect  travels  back  and  forth,  weaving  its 
web  of  thought.  We  are  like  men  climbing  up  winding  stairs 
to  the  summit  of  some  high  tower ;  below  are  stairs  along 
which  we  have  come,  above  are  more  that  go  out  of  sight ; 
the  bottom  and  the  top  are  alike  invisible.  "  We  know  in 
part,"  never  the  whole  ;  even  the  part,  we  never  know,  but 
in  part.  We  cognize  nothing  as  it  is  in  itself ;  not  even  the 
commonest  thing  of  the  senses.  Our  knowledge  is  relative: 
of  things  as  they  appear,  in  the  shaping  coloring  lenses  of 
our  kaleidoscope  faculty  of  representation.  "  Instead  of 
receiving  the  ideas  of  things  as  they  are,  we  tinge,  with  the 
qualities  of  our  compound  being,  all  the  simple  things  that 
we  perceive."  Our  own  minds  we  know,  not  as  they  are  in 
themselves — in  their  essence — but  only  as  they  seem  in  the 
deflecting,  refracting  mirror  of  consciousness.  Both  body 


14  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

and  mind  are  apprehended  by  us  only  as  the  unknown 
causes,  which,  impinging  one  upon  the  other,  evolve  that 
luminous  play  of  sensations,  thoughts,  feelings,  volitions, 
which  make  up  the  varied  conscious  experience  we  call 
ourselves.  Push  the  inquiry  one  step  back  and  we  find  we 
are  in  the  profoundest  ignorance  respecting  our  own  being. 
How  much  more,  of  the  Infinite  Mind,  we  name  God  !  We 
must  humble  ourselves  with  Job  of  old  and  consent  that  by 
no  searching  can  we  find  him  out.  Even  Revelation  makes 
him  known  to  us,  divested  of  the  fullness  of  his  attributes 
and  reduced  to  the  limit  of  our  finite  mode  of  comprehen- 
sion. Above,  below,  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left, 
darkness  compasses  us  about.  Sufficient  indeed  for  our 
practical  need  is  the  knowledge  we  may  gain  of  this  middle 
sphere  in  which  our  lot  is  cast ;  but  as  Pascal  puts  it, 
"  extreme  things  are  not  ours,  any  more  than  if  they  were 
not.  We  were  not  made  for  them.  Either  they  escape  us 
or  we  them.  We  burn  with  the  desire  to  sound  the  utmost 
depth  and  to  raise  a  fabric  that  shall  reach  infinity.  But  all 
we  build  crumbles,  and  the  earth  opens  in  fathomless  abysses 
beneath  our  deepest  foundations."  Surely  then  he  knows 
nothing  as  he  ought  to  know,  who  in  the  highest  reaches  of 
intelligence  is  not  humbled  at  the  thought,  how  like  nothing 
is  all  we  know,  to  what  we  do  not  know. 

I  have  dwelt  long  and  repetitiously  on  this  point  in  order  to 
expose  the  perversity  of  that  conceit  of  over-much  knowing, 
which  has  been,  and  is,  the  bane  of  learning.  Ambition,  on 
the  part  of  burning  intellects,  to  transcend  the  limit  of  our 
faculties  is  the  temptation  that  has  beset  the  path  of 
thought  ever  since  man  in  Eden,  aspiring  to  be  as  Gods,  fell 
from  his  high  estate.  This  makes  of  most  difficult  attain- 
ment, that  which  some  philosopher  said  was  the  greatest 
wisdom,  "  Quaedam  aequo  animo  nescire  velle. "  The  intellect 
is  restive  in  its  ignorance  and  struggles  against  the  limit  set 
to  its  march  like  a  caged  bird  against  the  wires  that  confine 
its  flight.  Every  one  familiar  with  the  history  of  human 
thought,  knows  how  this  ambition  to  understand  all  mysteries 
has  perverted  religious  inquiry  from  the  right  way,  crowd- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


'5 


ing  the  tomes  of  theology  with  endless  subtilties  and  refine- 
ments and  debates,  darkening  "  counsels  with  words  without 
knowledge."  Says  Hegel,  in  his  introduction  to  the  History 
of  Philosophy  :  "  Courage  for  the  truth,  faith  in  the  might 
of  the  intellect,  is  the  condition  of  philosophy.  Man, 
because  he  is  intellect,  may  and  should  reckon  himself  worthy 
of  the  Highest.  He  can  never  think  enough  of  the  great- 
ness and  power  of  his  reason ;  and  with  this  confidence, 
nothing  is  so  concealed,  that  it  will  not  open  to  his  call. 
The  veiled  and  secret  essence  of  the  universe  has  no  power 
to  withstand  his  search.  It  must  unbar  itself  to  his  approach 
and  lay  its  riches  and  its  mysteries  before  his  raptured  gaze." 
In  a  spirit  like  this,  the  aspiring  philosophers  of  Germany 
went  daft  in  the  attempt  to  penetrate  the  secret  of  existence 
and  establish  the  "  science  of  man  on  an  identity  with  the 
omniscience  of  God."  This  windy  conceit  swept  the  land, 
assailing  established  moral  ideas  and  religious  faiths,  until 
the  institutions  of  Church  and  State  trembled  like  a  forest 
in  the  march  of  a  whirlwind.  Like  scenes,  (only  more 
terrific),  from  the  same  cause,  were  acted  over  in  the  vine- 
clad  regions  of  France.  To-day  this  "vain  deceit"  of  knowl- 
edge is  invading  the  field  of  physical  science,  imperiling  all 
its  highest  interests,  by  leading  it  away  from  the  modest  and 
safe  path  of  experiment,  in  which  it  has  made  such  solid 
and  brilliant  achievements,  into  the  fog-banks  of  a  priori 
speculation.  Instead  of  studying  phenomena  and  orders  of 
sequence,  setting  down  what  they  find,  some  of  the  more 
ambitious  savans  are  about  writing  a  new  book  of  Genesis. 
Postulating  matter  and  force  and  a  necessary  law  of  evolu- 
tion, they  construct  a  theory,  deductively,  of  the  way  the 
world  emerged  from  a  homogeneous,  nebulous  stuff,  next  to 
nothing,  into  what  it  now  is,  with  plants  and  animals  and 
finally  man  at  the  summit  of  the  grand  procession.  Reading 
the  writings  of  such  thinkers  as  Herbert  Spencer,  one  cannot 
fail  to  see  how  far  they  have  wandered  from  that  simple 
experimental  study  of  nature  which  characterized  the 
inquiries  of  Newton,  Cuvier  and  Franklin,  and  to  which  we 
owe  those  solid  discoveries  that  have  so  ennobled  and 


1 6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

enriched  our  modern  world.  For  one,  I  glory  in  science  as 
the  grand  inheritance  of  our  age.  But  I  say  to  all  young 
students,  beware  of  that  false  science  that  is  puffed  up  with 
the  ambition  to  know  everything :  that  is  not  content  to 
know  "  in  part  " — demanding  in  the  boastful  language  of 
Hegel,  above  quoted,  that  the  whole  universe  shall  give  itself 
into  its  hand.  For  "if  any  man,  (in  this  way),  think  he  know- 
eth  anything  he  knoweth  nothing  yet  as  he  ought  to  know." 

II.  I  pass  to  a  second  use  of  science.  //  encourages  a 
religious  spirit.  This  sentence  may  sound  strange  to  some 
ears.  It  is  more  or  less  the  fashion  of  these  times  to 
denounce  science  as  the  enemy  of  religion.  I  do  not  say 
that  all  men  of  science  are  religious.  It  is  sadly  otherwise. 
What  I  say  is,  the  natural  tendency  of  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge is  to  beget  a  disposition  not  hostile  but  favorable  to 
religion.  If  true  science  fosters  intellectual  humility,  it 
cannot  fail  to  be  a  preparation  for  that  higher  spiritual 
knowledge  revealed,  not  to  the  "  wise  and  prudent  "  but 
"unto  babes."  The  proposition,  "  ignorance  is  the  mother 
of  devotion,"  is  a  true  one,  if  we  mean  that  ignorance  in 
which  all  knowledge  ends  ;  that  consciousness  of  the  limit  of 
our  faculty,  of  which  all  are  aware,  who  know  anything  "as 
they  ought  to  know." 

Reverence  is  the  native  sentiment,  out  of  which  religion 
springs,  and  on  which  it  is  built.  Religion,  in  general,  may 
be  denned — adoring  love  of  the  Infinite.  All  worship 
requires  faith  in  somewhat  beyond  our  apprehension.  That 
which  we  know,  as  far  as  we  know  it,  is  on  our  level.  We 
lift  ourselves  up  to  that  which  we  fully  comprehend  and 
veneration  ceases.  The  object  I  can  see  all  round  and 
through  no  longer  fills  me  with  awe.  Hence  the  saying  of 
St.  Bernard,  I  think,  "  A  God  known  is  no  God  at  all."  The 
truth  that  lifts  us  to  admiration,  is  not  the  truth  exactly 
defined  and  compassed  with  a  clean  circumference,  but  that 
which  looms  up  vaguely  out  of  mists  and  hints  at  more 
than  it  reveals.  It  is  not  those  luminous  points  that  we  see 
twinkling  on  the  face  of  night,  but  that  infinite  expanse 
which  they  suggest,  and  along  which  the  imagination  wings 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  17 

its  way,  that  makes  us  bow  our  heads  in  awe  of  the  starry 
heavens.  Here  may  we  not  see  the  final  cause  of  that 
limitation,  on  our  knowing  faculty  imposed,  of  which  I  have 
been  speaking?  We  know  "in  part,"  that  we  may  believe 
more,  and  adore  that  mystery  of  being  we  cannot  know.  In 
the  words  of  an  unknown  poet : 

"  Full  many  a  secret,  in  her  sacred  veil, 

Hath  nature  folded.     She  vouchsafes  to  knowledge 

Not  every  mystery,  reserving  much 

For  human  veneration,  not  research. 

Let  us  not  therefore  seek  what  God  conceals. 

For  even  the  things,  which  lie  within  our  hands, 

These  knowings,  we  know  not,  so  far  from  us, 

In  doubtful  dimness,  gleams  the  star  of  truth." 

First  knowledge,  then  a  sense  of  ignorance,  then  faith, 
then  worship  ;  such  is  the  succession  of  mental  states  that 
conduct  us  to  religion  and  to  God.  What  can  better  inspire 
adoration  than  the  study  of  nature  ?  Not  a  fact  discovered 
but  opens  a  territory  of  limitless  mystery  to  reverent  faith. 
For  every  question  which  science  answers,  a  hundred  others 
start  up  which  it  cannot  put  to  rest.  Take  this  flower — 
Botany  has  classified  and  named  it.  It  can  explain  some- 
thing of  its  structure  and  the  vital  circulations  by  which  it 
grows.  But  tell  me,  if  you  please,  why  these  leaves,  unfold- 
ing from  the  same  bud  on  the  same  stalk,  are  so  differentiated 
that  one  is  crimson,  its  neighbor  purple,  or  perhaps  green  in 
the  center  edged  round  with  white.  A  painter  being  asked 
how  he  mixed  his  paint,  replied,  "with  brains,  sir."  What 
brain  mixed  these  paints ;  what  artist's  pencil  spread  these 
colors  and  tints  in  such  exquisite  arrangements  over  the 
petals  of  the  flower  ?  Science  stares  helpless  in  the  presence 
of  this  miracle  of  life,  this  potency  behind  the  germ  that 
builds  it  into  being,  and  may  well  bow  down  before  the 
mystery  of  the  simplest  flower. 

There   is  not  the  slightest  tendency  in  the  progress  of 

knowledge  to  diminish  faith  and  reverence.     We  watch  the 

process  and  order  of  nature,   and  correct  and  enlarge  our 

conceptions,  and  resolve  some  things  that  before  were  not 

3 


1 8  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

understood,  but  we  never  penetrate  the  secret  of  existence, 
"  Which,  dive  we,  soar  we,  baffles  still  and  lures." 

The  more  our  comprehension  of  phenomena  enlarges,  the 
more  does  the  inscrutable  Reality,  of  which  all  sense  per- 
ception is  only  the  sign,  deepen  and  widen  on  the  mind, 
humbling  while  it  exalts ;  inspiring  with  awe  and  worship  the 
contemplative  soul.  This  is  the  fruit  and  highest  end  of 
science — to  teach  man  worthily  to  adore. 

How  perverse  then,  and  blind,  is  that  unbelieving,  irrev- 
erent spirit  that  marks  much  of  the  so-called  learning  of  our 
times.  It  boasts  of  being  free  from  superstition  and  slavish 
credulity.  It  would  banish  God  and  miracles  from  nature, 
and  faith  and  awe  of  the  Unknown  from  the  reasonable  mind. 
Compte  affirmed  that  theology  belonged  only  to  primeval 
ignorance,  and  that,  passing  first  into  metaphysics,  it  was 
destined  to  vanish  under  the  clearer  light  of  the  positive 
philosophy.  In  nature  he  found  no  God  ;  no  supernatural 
presence  and  providence  ;  nothing  but  phenomena,  and  their 
laws.  Of  course,  if  he  did  not  find  these,  they  could  not  be 
there  ;  for  what  secret  could  escape  the  eye  of  such  a  Demi- 
God  of  intelligence  as  Augustus  Compte.  So  Deity  is  read 
out  of  the  list  of  entities,  man  no  more  immortal,  the  spir- 
itual world  a  fiction,  religion  a  bug-bear  of  tyrannical  priest- 
craft, and  worship  of  the  Deity  a  sentiment  without  an 
object.  And  this  is  what  men  call  science,  and  trumpet 
abroad  as  a  new  Gospel ;  the  emancipation  and  upbuilding 
of  the  race.  It  is  not  science  but  the  knowledge  that  puffeth 
up;  wasting  the  moral  energies,  dwarfing  the  majesties  of 
manhood  and  turning  this  grand  temple  of  nature,  built  for 
the  worship  of  the  eternal  into  a  curiosity  shop  or  a  house  of 
merchandise.  Hang  science  if  it  have  nothing  better  to 
teach  us  than  this  !  I  would  rather,  as  Bacon  says,  "  believe 
all  the  fables  of  legend  and  Talmud  and  Alcoran,  than  that 
this  universal  form  is  without  mind."  Shall  we,  for  whom 
this  age  has  made  such  wondrous  discoveries  in  the  fields  of 
matter  and  mind  ;  who  are  taught  to  explore  the  world 
without  and  the  world  within  ;  to  regulate  the  moving  spheres, 
and  tell  how  the  planets  swing,  to  solve  the  elements  and 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  19 

divide  the  beams  of  light,  and  cage  the  lightning  in  a  jar  and 
send  it  forth  a  messenger  of  tidings  round  the  world,  shall 
we  gain  from  all  this  enlarged  intelligence  less  of  reverent 
impulse  and  inspiration,  to  exalt  and  expand  the  soul,  than 
did  the  ignorant  pagans  of  old  ?  Because  science  has 
corrected  and  enlarged  our  conception  of  nature,  and  many 
things  once  referred  to  supernatural  agents  have  been 
explained,  and  their  mode  of  coming  to  pass  understood ; 
because  the  divinities  are  now  banished  from  Acadian 
groves,  and  Eolus  no  longer  in  his  mountain  cave  chains  or 
lets  loose  the  winds,  and  Neptune  has  abandoned  the  empire 
of  the  sea ;  because  human  life  is  no  longer  implicated  with 
the  courses  of  the  stars,  and  a  comet  is  not  dreaded  as  a 
messenger  of  wrath,  and  plague  and  famine  are  known 
effects  of  natural  causes,  stayed  by  drainage,  not  by  prayer; 
and  miracles  are  unlocked  for  in  the  territories  of  sense,  is 
there,  for  this  reason,  nothing  to  be  believed  and  adored  ? 
Because  astronomy,  with  its  glass,  has 

*         *     Thrust  far-off 

"  The  heaven,  so  neighborly  with  man  of  old, 
To  voids,  spare-sown  with  alienated  stars," 

does  it  any  the  less  declare  the  glory  of  God  to  us,  than  to  the 
Chaldean  shepherds  and  the  nightly  visions  of  the  Hebrew 
poet-king?  Because  geology  patiently  spelling  out  the 
unwritten  record  on  the  rock-ribbed  earth  has  brought  in- 
to discredit  the  Mosaic  cosmogny,  with  its  days  and  dates, 
and  pushed  the  beginning  into  a  period  indeterminately 
remote,  and  shown  us  its  building — not  the  work  of  a  week, 
but  of  incomputable  ages,  is  the  origin  and  constitution  then 
any  less  wonderful  and  in  need  of  an  infinite  Creator  ?  If 
Darwin  were  to  establish  on  satisfactory  evidence — which 
seems  to  me  as  yet  all  too  slender  to  support  such  conclusion, 
— man's  descent  from  some  lower  form  of  animal,  and  all  ani- 
mal from  the  plant,  and  all  plants  from  an  original  germ,  are 
we  then  in  the  presence  of  any  less  a  mystery  than  has 
confronted  the  thought  of  all  ages  ?  That  original  cell,  in 
which  is  deposited  the  possibilities  of  the  vast  kingdoms  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life,  now  spread  over  the  surface  of  the 


20  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

earth,  that  original  cell,  I  say,  in  whose  inflnitessimal  com- 
pass is  packed  a  universe  of  mortal  and  possibly  immortal 
beings,  is  no  object  of  ready  comprehension  for  us,  to  be 
thought  of  with  careless  irreverence  as  a  familiar  thing. 
The  existence  of  such  a  world-teeming  seed,  requires  a 
cause  of  power  and  wisdom  equal  to  that  of  building  a  uni- 
verse outright.  Let  us  understand  this.  The  growth  of 
intellect  will  never  supersede  faith,  or  quench  devotion, 
but  the  more  it  penetrates  the  secrets  of  nature  and  the  laws 
of  its  evolution  and  ongoings,  the  more  grand  and  adorable 
will  appear  that  inscrutable  Reality  of  which  the  whole  vis- 
ible universe  is  but  the  manifestation.  True  science,  not 
only  by  teaching  us  the  limit  of  our  faculties  and  inspiring 
a  humble  spirit,  but  by  banishing  from  the  mind  the  idols 
of  superstition,  can  never  fail  to  be  the  handmaid  of  re- 
ligion. As  knowledge  increases,  nature  becomes  more  and 
more  an  illuminated  temple  in  which  faith  converses  with 
and  worships  the  Invisible. 

III.  A  third  use  of  true  science  is  to  create  a  sense  of  the 
need  of,  and  faith  in,  divine  revelation.  Some  will  think, 
doubtless,  that  the  exact  opposite  of  this  statement  is  the 
truth.  Grant  that  science  begets  humility  and  reverence, 
and  so  makes  men  religious  in  a  way,  it  certainly  has  no 
tendency  to  prepare  the  mind  to  accept  revealed  religion.  Is 
not  science  in  open  war  with  the  scriptures  ?  Has  there  not 
ever  been,  and  is  there  not  now,  an  irreconcilable  antagonism 
between  the  belief  of  the  Bible  and  the  reception  of  scien- 
tific ideas  ?  I  have  no  time  to  enter  on  a  full  discussion  of 
this  most  vital  question  of  the  times — the  relation  of  Science 
to  Revelation.  A  few  words  on  this  point,  however,  I  will 
venture  to  utter.  It  is  not  with  the  Bible,  but  with  a  false 
theory  of  the  Bible,  that  science  can  ever  be  at  war.  If  it  be 
claimed,  as  it  once  was,  and  now  is  by  many,  that  the  Bible 
is,  in  all  parts,  of  co-equal  authority,  its  every  statement 
absolute  truth;  if  belief  in  the  Bible  means  belief  in  the 
correctness  of  all  its  statements  and  theories  of  the  origin 
and  phenomena  of  the  material  world,  and  the  way  man  came 
into  existence  upon  the  planet ;  then  surely  the  mind,  trained 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  21 

in  scientific  knowledge,  cannot  believe  it ;  for  such  a  mind 
knows  some  of  these  representations  concerning  natural  things 
are  not  true,  and  may  have  reason  to  expect  that  further  inves- 
tigation will  prove  others  not  to  be.  When  the  sacred  wri- 
ters had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  outward  world,  they  adopted 
the  language  and  conceptions  of  nature  current  in  their  day. 
Many  of  these  conceptions  were  erroneous,  and,  as  science 
progresses,  must  be  discredited  and  discharged.  These  are 
not  the  real  subject  matter  of  revelation;  they  are  merely  its 
frame  work  and  setting.  The  infallibility  of  the  Bible  per- 
tains only  to  that  matter  which  constitutes  its  essence  and 
the  end  for  which  it  was  given  ;  to  instruct  mankind  in  moral 
and  religious  truth ;  to  tell  us  how  to  live  and  do  the  will  of 
God;  in  a  word,  to  make  man  "wise  unto  salvation."  If 
faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  the  word  of  God,  means  that 
God  inspired  men  to  declare  to  the  successive  generations 
moral  and  spiritual  truth,  and  to  make  statements  respecting 
his  purposes,  ways  and  acts  in  respect  to  man — which  things 
are  the  real  revelation,  and  all  the  Bible  stands  for — in  a 
word,  that  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  are 
an  infallible  guide  in  religious  faith  and  practice — then  I 
think  the  study  of  science  is  calculated  to  encourage  such 
devout  belief.  For,  in  the  first  place,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
knowledge  of  phenomena  and  their  laws  which  can  disprove 
the  existence  of  a  God  such  as  the  Bible  sets  forth.  There 
may  be  such  a  God.  Indeed  the  attributes  ascribed  to  the 
Deity  in  the  Bible  are  such  as  a  thorough  study  of  nature 
would  incline  the  scientist  to  assign  to  that  First  Cause 
which,  in  -all  of  his  investigations  he  assumes.  And,  in  the 
second  place,  the  true  scientific  spirit,  which  evermore  forbids 
to  fill  up  the  chasms  of  its  ignorance  with  conjectures  and 
imaginations,  but  requires  that  men  stop  where  the  evidence 
stops,  and  beyond  that  neither  affirm  or  deny  anything,  is 
sure  to  develop  in  the  mind  a  sense  of  need  of  a  supernat- 
ural enlightenment  to  answer  those  "  obstinate  questionings  " 
concerning  the  Unknowable  which  advancing  knowledge  of 
the  cosmos  perpetually  conjures  into  consciousness,  but  can 
never  answer ;  and  .in  case  it  has  any  reason  to  believe  such 


22  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

revelation  has  been  given  in  the  Bible,  it  disposes  such  a 
mind  to  study  its  pages  with  the  docility  of  a  little  child  and 
to  render  to  Faith  the  things  that  are  Faith's. 

The  flippant  and  superficial  wit  of  Voltaire  found  matter 
of  derision  in  the  fact  that  the  author  of  the  Principia,  had 
written  a  commentary  on  a  book  of  the  Scriptures.  To  his 
conceit  of  reason,  it  seemed  an  amusing  instance  of  the  union 
of  intelligence  and  credulity  in  the  same  mind.  But  that 
sober,  cautious,  profound  thinker,  to  whose  reflective  mind 
the  mystery  of  revolving  worlds  was  opened,  and  the  track 
and  speed  of  the  sunbeam  on  its  journey  to  kiss  the  violet, 
was  too  conscious  of  his  ignorance  to  dare  construct  a  theory 
of  the  universe  a  priori',  too  thoroughly  scientific  in  his 
method  of  thought  to  affirm  or  deny  anything  of  that  invis- 
ible realm  which  transcends  the  reach  of  finite  faculty. 
Without  some  authentic  tidings  of  that  infinite  world  which 
eye  hath  not  seen,  and  of  which  the  visible  gives  only  far-off 
intimations  to  our  listening  faith,  he  knew  we  could  know 
nothing  of  it.  But  finding  something  in  his  inmost  con- 
sciousness that  linked  him  in  mysterious  union  to  the  Being 
above  all  being  ;  something  that  physical  science  could  not 
explain,  and  which  the  Bible  did  explain,  (answering  all  those 
intimations  of  an  origin  and  destiny  of  wider  scope  than 
sense,  putting  to  rest  those  "  obstinate  questionings  "  and 
"  unstilled  desires  "  of  the  immortal  nature,)  how  reasonable, 
how  philosophical,  in  this  masterly  genius,  to  seek  in  the 
Bible  light  to  relieve  the  darkness  of  natural  knowledge. 
No  better  proof  than  this  example  is  needed  to  show  that 
the  truly  scientific  spirit  affiliates  with  the  religious,  and  a 
study  of  nature  creates  a  sense  of  the  need  of,  and  encour- 
ages a  faith  in,  a  divine  revelation, 

It  is  true  that  some  brilliant  discoverers  in  the  realm  of 
nature  are  inclined  to  deny  and  scout  the  very  idea  of  a 
book  revelation  of  God.  But  the  skepticism  of  science 
must  not  be  overstated.  Have  we  not  Boyle  and  Oersted, 
Davy  and  Faraday,  Herschel  and  Newton,  Hitchcock  and 
Hugh  Miller,  names  second  to  none  among  the  lights  of 
science,  to  say  nothing  of  many  others  living,  who  are  de- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  23 

vout  believers  in  the  written  Word,  as  witnesses  to  the  truth 
that  there  is  no  necessity,  or  even  strong  tendency,  in  true 
scientific  culture  to  prejudice  the  mind  against  belief  in  the 
religion  of  the  Bible  ? 

IV.  The  last  moral  fruit  of  true  science  I  can  mention,  is 
charity.  If  science  teach  men  humility  and  the  fear  of 
God,  it  must  also  bear  the  fruit  of  benevolence.  It  was  a 
vain  and  atheistic  culture  that  uttered  this  selfish  sentiment 
of  Lucretius,  "  'T  is  a  pleasant  thing,  from  the  shore  to  be- 
hold the  dangers  of  another  upon  the  ocean  *  *  from 
which  you  yourself  are  free  ;  't  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  behold 
the  contest  of  warfare  arrayed  on  the  plains,  without  a 
share  in  the  danger  ;  but  nothing  is  there  more  delightful 
than  to  occupy  the  elevated  temples  of  the  wise,  well  forti- 
fied by  tranquil  learning,  whence  you  may  look  down  upon 
others,  and  see  them  straying  in  every  direction,  and  wan- 
dering in  search  of  the  path  of  life."  It  is  a  grand  perver- 
sion of  mental  culture  when  it  exalts  a  man,  in  the  conceit 
of  his  own  wisdom,  above  his  fellows,  retires  him  from  sym- 
pathy with  the  toiling,  ignorant  masses  of  mankind,  makes 
him  indifferent  to  their  woes  and  errors,  and  content  to  en- 
joy his  own  light,  and  nurse  in  solitude  his  delicious  loves 
and  dainty  tastes.  Too  much  of  this  high-minded,  exclu- 
sive culture  there  is,  I  know.  But  unless  learning  makes  a 
man  compassionate  of  the  ignorance  of  others,  and  prompt 
to  spread  his  knowledge,  and  go  down  into  the  plain  where 
the  toiling  millions  are  struggling,  and  teach  them  how  to 
live,  and  help  them  to  bear  their  burdens,  he  surely  knows 
nothing  as  he  ought  to  know. 

Gentlemen — I  have  pointed  out  the  moral  uses  of  true 
science.  Its  legitimate  fruits  are  humility,  religion,  benev- 
olence. As  knowledge  is  means  to  these  high  ends  of  char- 
acter, they  are  superior  to  it,  and  give  to  intellectual  cul- 
ture all  its  permanent  worth.  The  understanding  is  rightly 
employed,  when  it  gathers  nutriment  to  feed  the  will  and 
the  affections,  to  quicken  and  refine  the  moral  sense,  to  in- 
spire the  sentiment  of  worship,  and  build  our  souls  upward 


24  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

towards  God,  and  outward  in  all  generous  loves  to  men. 
Science,  though  not  religion,  as  some  seem  to  think,  may 
and  should  be  the  fore-court  and  vestibule  of  its  temple  ; 
in  its  highest  elevations,  a  shining  summit  like  the  Delecta- 
ble mountains,  "in  the  sight  of  the  city,  and  on  the  borders 
of  heaven."  He  who  knows  any  truth  has  light  to  guide 
him  in  doing  the  will  of  God,  and  attaining  a  divine  man- 
hood, which  is  the  one  business  of  life.  Science  is  thus  an 
ally  of  faith.  The  student's  calling  is  a  consecrated  one. 
His  mission  is  to  stand  for  truth,  and  duty,  and  God,  against 
all  shams  and  expediencies,  and  mammon-worship,  and 
every  false  thing  that  exalts  itself  against  the  purities  and 
dignities  of  life.  Such  men  the  times  are  in  urgent  request 
of;  men  who  are  ready  to  stand  for  ideas,  for  principles; 
men  who,  raised  above  the  consideration  of  mere  material 
well-being,  and  all  narrow  utilitarianism,  are  ready  to  con- 
secrate their  lives  to  the  service  of  the  True,  the  Beautiful, 
and  the  Good.  Next  in  inconsistency  to  the  selfish  and 
worldly-minded  saint,  I  set  down  the  time-serving,  merce- 
nary, undevout  scholar. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  25 


MONDAY,  JUNE  15. 


READING  OF  THESES 

BY  THE 

XjA.SS    OIF1    1874, 
AT  THE  INSTITUTE  HALL. 


1.  Review  of  the    Wrought    Iron    Girder  Bridge,  over  the 

Hudson   River,   at    Troy,  N.  Y.       Harry   D.  Pattison, 
Troy,  N.  Y. 

2.  Review  of  a  Jonval  Turbine,  at  the  Ogden  Mill,  Cohoes, 

N.  Y.     William  J.  Fabian,  Lake  Forest,  111. 

3.  Review  of  the  Verrugas  Wrought  Iron  Viaduct,  on  the 

Lima  and  Oroya  Railroad.     Enrique  C.  Zegarra,  Piura, 
Peru. 

4.  Review  of  the  Collective  System  of  the  Brooklyn  Water 

Works.     William  P.  Mason,  New  York  City. 

5.  Review  of  the    Locomotive  Engine,    "  No.  59,"  of  the 

Union  Pacific  Railroad  Co.     George  W.  Carnrick,  Troy, 
N.  Y. 


26  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

THE  INSTITUTE  REGATTA 


At  4:00  P.  M.,  the  annual  Tub  and  Shell  Races  for  the 
championship  of  the  Institute,  took  place  on  the  Laureate 
Course,  Hudson  River,  above  the  dam.  A  large  number  of 
the  friends  of  the  students  gathered  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  and  in  the  various  boat  houses. 

The  following  gentlemen  took  part  in  the 
TUB  RACE: 

W.  L.  Fox,  Class  of  '75,  J.  Bushnell,  Jr.,  Walter  F.  Crosby, 
H.  B.  Duane,  H.  N.  Elmer,  H.  R.  Griffin,  Charles  G. 
Griffith,  G.  E.  Ingersoll,  W.  A.  Nicholson,  H.  Stutzer,  C.  G. 
Williams,  A.  Underwood,  F.  A.  Yeager,  of  the  Class  of  '77. 

The  distance  rowed  was  from  the  shore  to  a  boat  anchored 
out  in  the  river  about  seventy-five  feet,  and  return.  A  start 
was  made  punctually  on  time,  and  for  a  half  hour  the 
spectators  were  greatly  amused  by  the  ineffectual  attempts 
of  the  contestants  to  reach  the  boat.  Some  who  reached 
this  point  were  unable  to  turn  around,  but  Mr.  Bushnell 
finally  succeeded  in  this  and  in  returning.  He  was  declared 
winner  of  the  race,  and  was  awarded  the  prize. 

THE    SHELL    RACE. 

There  were  three  entries  for  this  race,  viz  :  J.  A.  Hutch- 
inson,  Jr.,  Class  of  '75,  A.  G.  Baker,  Class  of  '76,  and  B.  B. 
Newton,  Class  of  '77.  The  course  was  three  miles  with  one 
turn.  The  Judges  were  A.  J.  Swift,  graduate  of  '73,  and  J. 
Bushnell,  Jr.,  Class  of  '77.  Charles  Nash,  Esq.,  President  of 
the  Laureate  Club,  acted  as  Referee. 

Time  made  was  as  follows  :  Hutchinson,  25:49  ;  Newton, 
26:30;  Baker,  27:20. 

The  water,  although  in  tolerable  condition,  was  too  rough 
for  fast  time. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  2? 

R.  P.  I.  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CONCERT. 
BY  THE  INSTITUTE  GLEE  CLUB. 


RAND'S  HALL,  JUNE  15,  1874.     8  O'CLOCK,  P.  M. 


PROGRAMME.       PART    FIRST. 

1.  My  Home  by  the  Sea CHORUS 

2.  Peter  Gray MR.  ZEGARRA  AND  GLEE  CLUB 

3.  Piano  Duett MESSRS.  BREESE  AND  LAY 

4.  SOLO — Parting MR.  FORD 

5.  Butcher's  Dog MR.  HOUSE  AND  GLEE  CLUB 

6.  Quartette MESSRS.  ZEGARRA,  HOUSE,  DAVIS,  MCLEAN 

7.  Medley CHORUS 

PART    SECOND. 

1.  Rig-a-Jig-Jig  [new  version] CHORUS 

2.  Quartette MESSRS.  KAY,  ALDRICH,  Fox  AND  CHAPIN 

3.  Sweet  and  Low CHORUS 

4.  DUETT — Larboard  Watch MESSRS.  FORD  AND  ALDRICH 

5.  Noah's   Ark CHORUS 

6.  Evening   Bells CHORUS 

7.  DUETT — Violin  and  Flute MESSRS.  HIRST  AND  GEUDER 

8.  Seven  Crows. . 


The  following  notice  of  the  Club  accompanied  this  pro- 
gramme : 

The  want  of  an  organization  on  a  good  basis  for  the 
improvement  and  systematizing  of  what  musical  talent  could 
be  found  in  our  institution,  had  been  felt  for  many  years. 
Quartettes  and  small  Choruses  were  formed  among  intimate 
friends,  which,  from  the  lack  of  system,  soon  died  out.  On 
the  25th  of  October,  1873,  a  meeting  of  a  few  students  was 
held  and  the  foundation  of  our  present  Glee  Club  was  laid. 
For  some  time  we  studied  a  few  pieces  for  our  own  amuse- 
ment, and  the  improvement  of  what  talent  we  possessed  ; 
and  not  until  the  following  March  was  a  thought  entertained 
of  our  giving  a  public  entertainment.  Our  Boat  Club  had 


28  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

I 

labored  for  some  time  under  serious  embarrassment,  and  had 
tried  every  means  in  their  power  to  keep  their  heads  above 
water.  To  keep  out  of  debt  was  as  much  as  they  found  it 
possible  to  do.  The  Glee  Club  embraced  many  members  of 
the  Boat  Club,  and  as  we  grew  to  have  confidence  in  our- 
selves, faint  murmurs  were  now  and  then  heard  regarding  our 
competency  to  give  a  concert  to  help  the  Boat  Club  along. 
The  members  of  the  Boat  Club  encouraged  us  by  repeated 
assurance  that  we  would  find  a  lenient  public,  and  probably 
an  enthusiastic  audience,  consisting  as  it  most  probably  would 
of  students  and  their  friends.  A  concert  was  decided  on,  to 
take  place  about  the  first  of  May,  but  as  arrangements  for 
the  programme  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Celebration  were 
being  made  and  we  were  invited  to  take  part  in  it  (thus 
adding  a  new  and  pleasant  feature  for  the  old  graduates,  who, 
under  the  influence  of  familiar  College  songs,  will  revive  old 
memories  of  happy  days  passed  at  Alma  Mater),  the  time  of 
the  concert  was  changed  to  June  i5th. 

Since  commencing  the  sale  of  our  tickets,  we  have  found 
many  outside  taking  an  interest  in  our  concert,  and  are 
thankful  to  them  for  thus  subscribing  to  an  enterprise  of 
whose  merits  they  knew  comparatively  nothing.  Our  reper- 
toire embraces  no  really  scientific  music,  and  indeed  we  have 
had  no  time  to  study  and  practice  music  of  a  very  high  order; 
but  we  aim  to  please  in  what  we  have  selected,  common 
though  it  may  seem,  trusting  to  the  kind  indulgence  of  our 
friends,  who,  we  think,  will  not  regret  having  assisted  us  in  a 
worthy  undertaking. 

I.  G.  CLUB. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  2Q 


TUESDAY,  JUNE  16.  /^vT,;, 


READING  OF  THESES 


BY  THE 


oiF1  1874, 

AT  THE  INSTITUTE  HALL. 


6.  Review   of  the  Wrought   Iron    Girder    Bridge,  over  the 

Schuylkill    River,    on    Girard    Ave.,    Philadelphia,    Pa. 
George  S.  Griffen,  Phoenixville,  Pa. 

7.  Review    of  the    Lake    Tunnel  of  the    Cleveland    Water 

Works.     Frank  L.  Ford,  East  Cleveland,  O. 

8.  Review  of  a  "Standard  Passenger  Locomotive  Engine," 

Constructed  at  the  Grant  Locomotive  Works,  Paterson, 
N.  J.     William  H.  Powless,  Norwood,  N.  J. 

9.  Discussion  of  the    Principal    Methods  of  Constructing 

Foundations  in  Water.     Lyman  E.  Cooley,  Canandai- 
gua,  N.  Y.       , 

10.  Review  of  a  Floating  Derrick,   Department  of  Docks, 

New  York  City.     Alexander  P.  Gest,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


30  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

A  large  number  of  visitors  were  present  at  the  Reading  of 
the  Theses,  and  among  them  Chancellor  J.  V.  L.  Pruyn, 
Secretary  Woolworth,  and  Hon.  Martin  I.  Townsend,  of  the 
State  Board  of  University  Regents. 

The  drawings  made  during  this  past  term  by  members  of 
various  classes  were  on  exhibition,  and  consisted  of  topo- 
graphical and  bridge  drawings,  maps  of  railroad,  hydro- 
graphical  and  compass  surveys.  The  collections  of  plants 
which  the  members  of  the  class  in  botany  are  required  to 
make,  were  also  exhibited. 


RECEPTION. 


Hon.  and  Mrs.  J.  M.  Warren  gave  a  reception  to  the 
graduating  class,  their  friends  and  the  alumni,  at  their  resi- 
dence on  Eighth  Street,  at  i  o'clock,  p.  M.  The  attendance 
was  large,  but  the  ample  provision  generous  hospitality  had 
made  within  doors,  together  with  the  beautiful  grounds  and 
charming  views  without,  left  nothing  wanting  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  those  present. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


31 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE  SIXTH  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE 

ASSOCIATION    OF   GRADUATES, 

And  Se mi-Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Institute. 


The  meeting  was  regularly  organized  in  Institute  Hall,  at 
2:30  P.  M.,  on  Tuesday,  June  i6th. 

In    the    absence    of    President    Kneass,    Vice-President 
Boiler  took  the  Chair,  and  after  calling  the  meeting  to  order, 
addressed  the  Association  as  follows  : 
Gentlemen  of  the  Alumni  Association  : 

In  the  absence  of  the  President  of  our  Association,  it 
becomes  my  duty  to  call  this  meeting  to  order  and  to  wel- 
'come  the  Alumni  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  to 
the  scenes  of  earlier  days.  The  pleasure  of  any  meeting  of 
this  character,  is  tinged  with  a  shade  of  sadness,  as  the 
quickened  memory  spreads  out  in  panoramic  view,  the  events 
of  the  years  gone  by.  The  pictures  are  of  varying  length, 
according  to  our  years,  but  they  are  all  blurred  more  or  less 
with  anxiety  and  care,  disappointments  and  deferred  hopes. 
Neglected  opportunities  and  unfulfilled  resolutions  flit  by  in 
a  ghostly  procession,  and  almost  seem  for  a  time  to  chill  the 
sunnier  aspects  of  the  picture. 

The  story  of  our  undergraduate  life  comes  back  to  us 
with  almost  startling  vividness.  Our  classmates,  in  eager, 
hopeful  and  good  natured  rivalry,  we  recall  with  the  alpha- 
betical precision  of  the  Catalogue.  How  ambitious  we  all 
were,  and  how  important  we  felt.  Armed  with  the  degree 


32  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

of  Alma  Mater,  the  climax  of  our  Institute  life,  we  felt  that 
we  were  engineers  indeed,  with  the  whole  world  waiting  for 
our  advent.  We  went  forth  to  conquer,  little  dreaming  that 
the  world  judged  us  by  other  standards  than  our  own.  It 
no  doubt  took  a  longer  time  with  some  than  with  others,  to 
be  brought  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  fact  that  we  were 
barely  on  the  threshold  of  professional  life,  when  we. 
received  the  coveted  parchment  from  the  hands  of  the 
dignified  "  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees."  Sooner  or 
later  we  learned  that  the  only  road  to  success  was  the  old,  old 
one,  of  commencing  life  at  the  beginning,  to  take  the  bitter 
with  the  sweet,  and  learn  to  labor  and  to  wait.  So  closely 
linked  with  our  student  life,  that  to  speak  of  one  recalls  the 
other,  are  the  Professors,  whose  dignity  it  was  often  our 
pleasure  to  ruffle,  and  whom  student  fancy  christened  with 
names  not  to  be  found  in  the  Catalogue.  The  responsibilty 
of  their  office  looked  differently  to  us  then,  and  a  painstaking 
discharge  of  duty  on  their  part  was .  too  often  regarded  as 
imposing  unnecessary  restrictions  upon  us.  Such  of  us  who 
formed  intimacies  with  members  of  the  faculty,  had  privil- 
eges we  did  not  then  appreciate,  and  which  now  in  after 
years  form  one  of  the  most  delightful  pages  of  our  reminis- 
cences. 

According  to  the  circular  of  invitation,  you  will  notice 
that  this  is  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  Institute's 
life  !  A  half  century  of  work  has  been  accomplished,  and 
to  what  good  purpose,  let  the  speaking  pages  of  the  records 
bear  witness.  Limited,  comparatively  speaking,  as  has  been 
the  number  of  its  graduates,  hardly  a  State  in  the  Union  but 
has  felt  their  influence.  Few  public  works  of  any  magnitude 
now  in  progress  are  without  Institute  representation,  and  it 
has  a  remarkable  share  in  contributing  to  the  material 
development  of  the  country.  Standing  alone  for  years  this 
pioneer  school  of  science  has  struggled  and  lived  through 
discouragements  of  no  ordinary  character.  It  has  not  only 
had  to  educate  scientific  students,  but  it  has  also  had  to 
educate  the  public,  so  far  as  it  could  reach,  to  the  idea  that 
theory  and  practice  were  not  antagonistic,  but  supplementary 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


33 


to  each  other.  The  last  duty  has  been  far  the  more  difficult. 
The  past  decade  has  witnessed  the  culmination  of  a  struggle 
between  the  scholastic  systems  two  centuries  old,  and  the  new 
demands  of  modern  times.  While  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
"  new  education  "  idea  has  modified  the  popular  estimation 
of  the  value  and  importance  of  scientific  knowledge,  there 
is  more  work  to  be  accomplished.  It  is  one  thing  to  recog- 
nize this  importance  of  science,be  it  ever  so  grudgingly  given, 
but  it  is  quite  another  to  fasten  its  position  in  the  world  of 
knowledge.  What  are  called  the  "  learned  professions,"  do 
not  embrace  that  of  the  scientific  man,  and  whatever  distinc- 
tion of  superiority  that  may  have  existed  in  times  past, 
exists  no  longer,  if  utilitarian  considerations  are  entitled  to 
any  weight.  It  is  true  that  the  heretofore  sacred  ties  of 
learned  professions,  like  old  wine,  have  had  the  flavor  of  age 
to  commend  them,  and  appealing  as  they  do  with  traditional 
force  to  the  comprehension  of  the  mass  of  society,  and 
intimately  associated  with  the  whole  network  of  social  life, 
society  has  acted  but  a  natural  part  in  elevating  to  a  pre-em- 
inence what  it  best  could  understand.  But  the  times  have 
changed,  and  men  have  learned  that  there  is  very  little 
nutriment  in  the  polite  mustiness  of  antiquity,  and  that  it 
should  be  administered  in  the  new  era  of  education  in 
homceopathic  doses. 

The  last  half  century  has  seen  science  raised  in  all  its  vast 
ramifications  to  a  distinct  profession,  and  among  its  devotees 
may  be  found  as  much  intellectual  wealth,  sound  learning 
and  untiring  industry,  as  can  be  found  in  any  other  calling. 
If  bettering  the  material  condition  of  society,  if  increasing 
its  comforts,  if  developing  its  sources  and  avenues  of  wealth, 
if  teaching  it  how  to  live,  is  any  criterion  of  learning,  then  I 
say  that  science  should  have  the  highest  seat  in  men's  estima- 
tion. If  nobility  of  work  is  asked  for,'  for  admission  to  the 
coveted  eminence,  then  I  ask  can  man  be  engaged  in  a  more 
ennobling  work  than  the  study  and  application  of  the  laws 
and  forces  of  nature  ;  to  wring  from  nature  her  secrets,  and 
divert  them  to  the  benefit  and  elevation  of  the  human  race. 
Science  is  more  felt  than  heard  ;  it  dwells  upon  deeds  rather 

5 


\ 
34  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

than  words.  Its  subtle  influence  pervades  civilization,  and 
its  privileges  are  enjoyed  day  after  day,  without  a  thought 
given  to  "whence  it  comes  or  whither  it  goes."  The  labor 
of  years  develops  a  necessity  which  becomes  part  of  our 
daily  lives.  Who,  for  instance,  realizes  the  study,  labor  and 
research,  that  has  brought  our  railways  into  existence,  and 
has  been  perfecting  them  ever  since  ? 

England  thought  Stevenson  worthy  of  a  tomb  in  West- 
minister Abbey,  and  she  has  knighted  her  prominent  men 
of  science,  recognizing  them  as  benefactors  to  the  race. 
Some  such  recognition  we  must  strive  for  in  this  country,  in 
our  own  American  way.  While  we  do  not  bestow  orders  on 
the  men  that  rise  above  the  mass  of  their  fellows,  we  have 
been  conferring  honorary  degrees  upon  men  of  letters,  the  law, 
and  clergy.  Why  not  upon  men  of  science  ?  Our  colleges 
have  been  so  profuse  in  hastening  to  recognize  this  expres- 
sion of  pre-eminence  in  a  scholastic  direction,  that  the  number 
of  complimentary  degrees  given  out  at  every  annual  com- 
mencement, is  legion.  They  have  cheapened  their  honors, 
until  the  whole  intent  and  purpose  has  been  virtually  lost. 
Honorary  degrees  of  this  character  cease  to  be  a  compli- 
ment, and  I  only  refer  to  them  in  this  place  to  emphasize 
the  idea  previously  expressed,  regarding  work  yet  to  be  done, 
and  indicating  one  method  for  science  to  assist  itself.  While 
men's  estimate  of  themselves  or  their  calling,  does  not  always 
accord  with  the  judgment  of  their  fellows,  it  is  as  certainly 
true,  that  unless  they  assist  themselves,  others  will  not  do  it 
for  them.  Scientific  schools,  in  this  country  at  least,  do  not 
give  special  or  complimentary  degrees,  and  it  well  becomes 
the  Rensselaer  Institute,  the  oldest  and  best  known  institu- 
tion of  its  class,  to  initiate  the  system.  If  the  honor 
was  used  sparingly  and  critically,  it  would  be  a  coveted 
prize  for  the  deserving,  and  a  mark  of  accomplishment  that 
would  still  further  elevate  the  profession  of  the  scientific 
man  in  the  estimation  of  society.  It  is  high  time  for  science 
to  assert  itself  in  every  legitimate  direction,  and  demand  a 
seat  on  the  Olympian  Height,  so  long  occupied  by  law, 
medicine,  and  theology.  I  would  further  present  for  your 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


35 


consideration,  the  matter  of  incorporating  the  Alumni 
element  in  the  governance  of  this  institution.  This  seems 
to  me  worthy  of  discussion,  for  many  reasons,  and  has  been 
found  of  value  in  such  colleges  as  have  adopted  the  princi- 
ple. No  one  knows,  better  than  the  graduate  of  practical 
experience,  the  shortcomings  of  our  Alma  Mater,  and  it  is 
eminently  proper  that  he  should  be  consulted  in  matters  of 
systems  and  policy.  In  an  age  of  such  wondrous  activity 
as  the  one  we  are  passing  through,  to  stand  still  is  to  be  left 
behind,  and  to  be  left  behind  is  a  lingering  death.  Compe- 
tition is  a  tireless  rider,  forever  spurring  on  all  who  enter  for 
the  race.  Striving  for  perfection,  unattainable  though  it  be, 
is  characteristic  of  the  age,  whether  toward  things  good  or 
towards  things  bad.  Radicalism  and  conservatism  are  the 
two  great  conflicting  social  forces,  each  one  tempering  the 
other,  yielding  a  resultant  of  real  progress.  Separate  them 
and  we  have  communism  on  the  one  hand,  and  medisevalism 
on  the  other.  The  Rensselaer  Institute  stands  alone,  as  a 
purely  scientific  school,  no  longer.  The  demands  of  the 
"  new  education  "  have  created,  I  must  say,  almost  beyond 
present  requirements,  technical  and  scientific  schools  in 
almost  every  important  State  in  the  Union,  either  on  their 
own  basis,  or  as  adjuncts  to  established  institutions  of 
learning.  These  schools  are  for  the  most  part  well  endowed, 
and  present  inducements  that  this  Institute  cannot  hold  out. 
Thus  far,  despite  all  these  aspirants  for  popular  favor,  the 
R.  P.  I.  has  held  its  ground,  if  the  number  of  students  may 
be  taken  as  an  index  of  prosperity.  Even  with  its  limited 
facilities,  and  higher  tuition  fees  than  any  other  similar 
school,  there  are  more  names  now  upon  its  register  than  ever 
before.  This  is  easily  accounted  for  from  the  fact  that  its 
age  has  given  it  a  reputation  through  its  graduates,  not  yet 
reached  by  its  young  and  vigorous  competitors,  and  its 
reputation  is  further  advanced  by  a  knowledge  of  the  rigidity 
of  its  graduating  requirements.  This  disparity  must  lessen 
year  by  year,  until  the  newer  schools  occupy  the  same  van- 
tage ground,  having  in  addition  thereto,  the  attractions 
growing  out  of  material  prosperity.  The  position  of  the 


36  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  is  to-day  largely  due  to 
the  comprehensive  mind  of  B.  Franklin  Greene,  former 
Director,  as  I  think  will  be  generally  admitted.  His  report, 
made  in  1850,  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  adopted  by 
them  at  that  time,  as  the  basis  of  the  Institute  system, 
showed  an  appreciation  of  the  subject  far  in  advance  of 
the  time.  The  Institute  then,  as  it  does  now,  needed  a 
large  endowment,  and  the  prospects  then  were  about  as 
good  as  they  are  now — possibly  better.  The  interval  of 
twenty  years  has  done  nothing  for  us,  and  we  must  make  up 
for  a  slender  purse,  as  was  done  by  Director  Greene,  by 
still  furthering  its  educational  usefulness.  The  Alumni 
comparatively  have  nothing  to  give  ;  they  are  too  few  in 
number,  and  as  a  rule  their  riches  are  not  in  excess  of  what 
usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  scientific  men.  But  if  they  can 
not  give  of  worldly  possessions,  they  can  counsel  through 
ripened  experience  and  sympathy.  The  professors  are 
more  or  less  "book  men,"  and  hard-working  and  painstak- 
ing though  they  be,  they  cannot  always  estimate  truly  the 
value  of  their  systems,  as  to  the  effect  upon  the  after  life  of 
the  student.  It  was'  evidently  some  such  feeling  that 
prompted  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  appoint  a  peculiarly 
able  committee  in  the  Spring  of  1870,  to  investigate  the 
educational  system  of  the  Institute.  That  committee  made 
a  careful  investigation  and  report,  so  complete  and  encyclo- 
paedic in  its  information,  as  to  claim  for  it  a  high  position  in 
the  literature  of  technical  education.  It  was  expected  at 
the  time  by  many  of  the  Alumni  that  steps  would  be  taken  to 
adopt  its  recommendations,  in  part  at  least,  and  that  the 
time  had  come  when  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute 
would  make  another  stride  forward.  So  far  as  I  can  learn, 
and  from  causes  that  do  not  appear,  this  document  has  ex- 
erted no  influence  as  yet  upon  the  Institute  system.  Giv- 
ing full  credit  to  the  dead  weight  of  impecuniosity,  the  bete 
noir  that  springs  up  at  every  turn,  the  Institute  can  do  more 
than  she  is  now  doing,  at  least  so  it  appears  to  many  of  its 
graduates.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  cast  reflection  on  any  one 
of  its  faculty,  for  a  harder-working  or  more  painstaking 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  -?y 

body  of  men  it  would  be  difficult  to  find.  Year  by  year 
they  have  raised  the  standard  of  scholarship,  and  their 
courses  have  been  filled  out  and  extended.  There  is  no 
human  institution  under  the  sun  that  does  not  run  in  a 
groove  unless  carefully  watched,  and  the  pruning  knife  is 
essential  to  a  healthy  advance.  The  work  of  the  Institute 
being  to  prepare  young  men  for  certain  professional  duties, 
it  certainly  seems  reasonable  that  those  young  men  in  after 
years  should  have  a  voice  as  to  the  kind  of  preparation 
those  coming  after  should  receive.  While  this  Association 
of  Graduates  has  no  competence  to  pass  any  measures  af- 
fecting the  character  of  the  Institute  system,  or  the  mode 
of  its  government,  it  certainly  has  the  right  of  petition,  and 
could  exercise  that  right  in  no  better  way  than  requesting 
an  alumni  representation  among  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Another  matter  occurs  to  me  as  one  in  which  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Alumni  Association  can  be  wholesomely  exerted, 
and  that  is,  in  discountenancing  the  tendency  of  the  under- 
graduates to  affect  the  class  names  of  distinctive  collegiate 
institutions.  It  must  sound  strange  to  an  old  graduate,  on 
visiting  the  scenes  of  his  youth,  to^hear  Division  A  spoken 
of  as  the  "Senior  Class,"  or  Division  D  as  "Freshman." 
The  divisional  names  were  given  originally  to  make  a 
marked  distinction  that  the  present  race  of  students  do  not 
appear  to  understand.  The  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute pretends  to  no  parallel  with  the  American  colleges,  but 
theoretically  stands  on  a  higher  plane,  to  enjoy  the  full  ben- 
efits of  which  a  preparatory  college  course  is  necessary,  and 
it  is  falsifying  its  true  position  before  the  public,  in  attach- 
ing to  it  the  college  nomenclature.  Inasmuch  as  the  Insti- 
tute is  a  special  school,  to  train  its  students  for  special  work 
in  life,  its  educational  position  is  alongside  of  other  profes- 
sional schools,  such  as  Law,  or  Medicine.  General  litera- 
ture, or  miscellaneous  cultivation,  forms  no  part  of  the  sys- 
tem of  special  schools,  while  it  is  the  whole  aim  of  the  col- 
lege course,  and  it  would  be  much  better  for  the  special 
schools,  if  it  were  possible,  to  insist  upon  a  previous  col- 
lege training.  High  aims  alone  produce  high  results,  and  it 


38  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

is  certainly  to  be  hoped  that  trie  present  and  future  students 
of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  will  look  upon  it  as 
an  embryo  professional  duty  to  keep  the  line  distinctly 
marked  between  general  and  special  education. 

I  must  apologize  for  thus  trespassing  upon  your  time,  and 
deem  it  proper  to  offer  as  my  excuse  a  desire  to  see  the 
alumni  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  perform,  if 
possible,  some  effective  work  for  their  alma  mater,  and  in- 
terest themselves  in  seeing  the  Institute  keep  the  proud 
position  that  it  has  so  long  held.  I  have  indicated  certain 
directions  for  effort,  that  seem  to  me  eminently  practical, 
and  now  yield  them  to  the  winnowing  process  of  many 
minds,  trusting  that  the  seed  will  be  found  worthy  of  the 
sowing. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  of  the  Association  of 
Graduates,  (1873,)  were  then  read  by  the  Secretary,  Prof. 
H.  B.  Nason,  and  approved. 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  on  subscriptions  to,  and 
for  procuring  a  monument  to  Prof.  Eaton,  reported  that  the 
money  had  nearly  all  been  obtained,  and  that  a  monument 
had  been  placed  in  the  Oakwood  Cemetery,  costing  $525  ; 
also  a  memorial  window  of  stained  glass  had  been  placed  in 
the  Institute  Hall,  costing  $365. 

The  small  deficiency  ($85,)  in  funds  for  these  memorials, 
was  immediately  made  up  by  the  Alumni  present. 

Prof.  Nason,  on  behalf  of  the  committee  for  the  Semi- 
Centennial  Celebration,  reported  the  programme  as  already 
given  in  the  second  circular.  (See  page  7.) 

The  following  were  appointed  a  committee  to  nominate 
officers  for  the  ensuing  three  years  :  James  P.  Wallace,  class 
of  '37;  D.  M.  Greene,  class  of  '51;  A.  J.  Swift,  class  of 
'72  ;  W.  H.  Morton,  class  of  '56  ;  Prof.  Dascom  Greene, 
class  of  '53. 

Remarks  were  then  made  by  Dr.  G.  F.  Horton,  late  Pres- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


39 


ident  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Society,  of  the 
class  of  1827;  also,  by  Dr.  S.  E.  Arms,  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J., 
a  member  of  the  first  graduating  class,  1826. 

Upon  invitation,  the  Alumni  present  then  signed  the  reg- 
ister. 

At  four  o'clock  the  meeting  adjourned  to  the  Troy  Union 
R.  R.  Depot,  and  from  there  proceeded  to  the  Oakwood 
Cemetery  in  a  special  train  of  four  cars  drawn  by  the  loco- 
motive "  Gen.  Wool,"  provided  by  the  Troy  &  Boston  R. 
R.  The  officers  of  the  association,  speakers,  and  a  number 
of  guests,  were  provided  with  carriages. 

The  exercises  commenced  at  4:45.  Hon.  James  Forsyth, 
President  of  the  Institute,  introduced  Rev.  H.  N.  Brins- 
made,  D.  D.,  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  brother  of  the  late  Dr.  T.  C. 
Brinsmade,  a  former  President  of  the  Institute,  by  whom 
prayer  was  offered,  concluding  with  the  Lord's  prayer,  in 
which  all  present  joined. 

Hon.  Albert  R.  Fox,  of  Sandlake,  then  spoke  briefly  of 
the  late  Prof.  Amos  Eaton,  of  the  desire  of  his  pupils  to 
erect  a  monument  to  his  memory,  of  the  method  which  had 
been  used  to  obtain  necessary  funds,  and  the  interest  which 
all  had  manifested  in  the  matter.  The  speaker  closed  his 
remarks  with  a  touching  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the 
departed. 

Hon.  Martin  I.  Townsend,  LL.  D.,  was  then  introduced 
and  spoke  as  follows  : 
Friends  of  Prof.  Eaton  : 

The  eminent  citizen,  in  whose  honor  we  have  assembled 
to-day,  was  a  man  of  no  common  mould.  Nature  had 
endowed  him  with  intellectual  powers  far  above  those  con- 
ferred upon  ordinary  men,  and  a  life  of  tireless  labor  placed 
him  in  the  front  rank  with  the  first  minds  which  the  world 
has  produced  in  any  age  or  country.  Prof.  Eaton  entered 


40  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

upon  the  study  of  the  natural  sciences  at  a  period  when  those 
sciences  were  very  little  developed.  He  was  a  pioneer  in 
those  paths  which  his  labors  and  the  labors  of  his  contem- 
poraries have  served  to  make  smooth  for  coming  generations. 

For  more  than  thirty  centuries,  the  records  engraved  upon 
Egyptian  monuments  in  hieroglyphic  characters  were  a  sealed 
book  to  the  whole  race  of  mankind.  In  our  day  Champollion 
and  his  co-laborers  have  broken  the  seals  of  the  book,  so 
long  closed,  and  read  to  the  wondering  world  the  legends  of 
Egyptian  story. 

So  the  records  which  God  himself  had  written  on  every 
rock,  had  concealed  in  every  bank  of  sand,  had  impressed 
upon  every  mass  of  plastic  clay,  from  the  centre  of  the  earth 
to  the  top  of  the  highest  mountain  peak  that  raises  its  snow- 
clad  head  towards  mid-heaven,  had  been  closed  for  a  hundred 
centuries.  Even  man,  the  representative  of  the  Divinity,  had 
stumbled  blindly  over  these  records  until  such  men  as  Eaton 
discovered  the  key  to  their  interpretation,  and  taught  us  to 
read  from  them  the  story  of  the  world's  history,  in  letters 
written  in  ineffaceable  characters  by  the  pen  of  the  Divine 
Author  of  all.  Nor  is  this  all  which  our  age  has  learned 
from  such  men  as  Eaton  and  his  associates.  They  have 
shown  us  that  in  our  walk  upon  the  earth  we  are  treading 
amidst  a  vast  extended  grave  yard,  where  the  bodies  of  the 
animal  dead  have  in  successive  generations  been  buried  and 
stored  away  as  in  vast  museums  for  millions  of  ages — yea,  for 
millions  of  ages  before  the  primeval  man  was  fashioned  by 
the  hand  of  the  Creator,  and  they  have  opened  up  to  us  the 
exhaustless  storehouses  in  which  the  early  animal  dead  have 
so  long  rested  in  fossil  forms.  They  are  now  all  ranged 
before  us,  from  the  huge  forms  of  iguanodons  and  megather- 
iums and  the  saurian  monsters  of  the  early  world,  to  the 
glittering  scales  of  the  tiny  fish  that  sported  in  the  primeval 
seas.  What  tongue  can  adequately  describe  the  world  of 
wonder  that  naturalists  have  opened  up  to  us  ? 

I  have  only  alluded  thus  far  to  the  wonders  of  geological 
and  zoological  history  developed  in  our  day,  and  in  whose 
development  Prof.  Eaton  aided  so  efficiently.  But  his  ser- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  4! 

vices  and  those  of  his  associates  have  developed  wonders  in 
the  science  of  Botany,  no  less  amazing,  and  no  less  useful  to 
the  world  of  mankind.  They  have  not  only  taught  us  the 
character  of  the  flora  of  the  new-born  world,  the  conditions 
of  vegetable  life  when  the  coal  was  formed,  which  was  for 
such  untold  ages  buried  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  but  they 
have  ranged  in  order,  and  taught  us  the  nature  and  uses  of 
the  living  flora  that  now  cover  the  earth  with  beauty  and 
fertility,  and  not  only  minister  to  man's  comfort  and  elegant 
enjoyment,  but  which  are  necessary  to  render  even  his  phys- 
ical existence  possible.  In  all  these  works,  in  all  these  fields 
of  inquiry,  Prof.  Eaton  was  a  most  efficient  pioneer. 

But  it  is  most  appropriate  to  speak  of  Prof.  Eaton  to-day  as 
the  founder  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute.  His 
far-seeing  mind  fully  appreciated  the  importance  of  estab- 
lishing in  this  wide,  though  youthful  land,  a  school  where 
young  men,  by  a  thorough  training  in  the  natural  and  exact 
sciences,  should  become  prepared  to  lead  in  developing  and 
utilizing  our  varied  andexhaustless  resources.  Our  country 
was  young,  and  our  people  to  a  great  degree,  destitute  of 
accumulated  wealth.  But  his  was  an  enthusiasm  that  was 
discouraged  by  no  denial,  that  brooked  no  defeat.  Through 
his  exertions  the  Rensselaer  Institute  was  chartered  and 
started  upon  its  course.  At  the  outset  the  patronage  was 
small,  and  the  facilities  meagre,  as  compared  with  those 
enjoyed  in  this  and  similar  institutions  at  the  present 
day.  But  the  work  has  gone  steadily  forward  from  that  day 
to  this.  The  methods  of  instruction  have,  from  time  to  time, 
been  adapted  to  the  advancement  in  human  knowledge  which 
has  electrified  the  world  during  the  last  fifty  years.  The 
buildings,  the  chemical  laboratory  and  the  apparatus  of  the 
institution,  although  not  in  every  respect  as  extensive  as  we 
hope  to  see  them,  as  the  institution  advances  in  usefulness 
and  public  favor,  are  yet  such  as  would  have  warmed  the 
heart  of  the  old  sage  to  have  even  dreamed  of,  as  likely  to 
be  enjoyed  at  some  future  day  by  his  beloved  Polytechnic. 
The  graduates  of  the  institution  have  gone  out  into  the  world 
and  vindicated  its  power  to  prepare  its  scholars  to  compete 
6 


42  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

successfully  with  the  graduates  bf  any  similar  institution  on 
the  continent.  In  the  war  of  the  late  rebellion,  in  whose 
conduct  and  successful  termination  science  bore  so  great  a 
part,  the  graduates  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  stood  side 
by  side  with  the  graduates  of  the  nation's  military  school  at 
West  Point,  and  in  everything  except  mere  technical  military 
engineering,  fully  vindicated  their  claim  to  equality  of  rank 
with  them.  Nay,  I  am  disposed  to  go  still  further,  and  to 
say  that  this  institution  gives  to  its  students  as  complete  and 
perfect  an  education  as  civil  engineers  as  can  be  acquired  in 
any  institution  in  Europe  or  America.  The  nation  is  becom- 
ing aware  of  this  fact,  and  the  large  attendance  upon  its 
course  of  instruction  shows  that  others  concur  with  me  in 
the  conclusion  which  I  have  announced. 

When,  a  few  evenings  since,  I  saw  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five stalwart  young  men  of  the  institution,  in  the  prime 
of  their  manhood,  with  their  arms  entwined  and  shoulder  set 
against  shoulder,  marching  through  our  streets  in  the  shim- 
mer of  the  moonlight,  and  thought  of  the  power  that  these 
young  men  were  to  exert  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 
I  felt  that  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  was  indeed  a  power  in 
the  land. 

The  success  of  Prof.  Eaton  in  his  scheme  to  benefit  man- 
kind is  but  another  instance,  vindicating  the  sacred  text 
when  it  tells  us  that,  "  They  that  go  forth  weeping,  bearing 
precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  joy  bringing 
their  sheaves  with  them." 

Prof.  James  Hall,  of  Albany,  Class  of  '32,  being  intro- 
duced, said : 

Friends :  I  could  not  refuse  to  say  a  few  words  on  such  an 
occasion  as  this.  When  we  assemble  here  voluntarily  to  pay 
our  tribute  to  Prof.  Eaton  thirty-two  years  after  his  death,  it 
is  certain  that  the  man  has  a  hold  upon  us  not  that  of  a 
common  man.  It  was  my  happiness  to  know  Prof.  Eaton  as 
a  teacher,  adviser  and  friend.  One  word  we  ought  to  say. 
At  a  time  when  no  schools  of  natural  or  applied  science 
existed  he  became  a  pioneer  in  founding  the  Rensselaer 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


43 


school.  He  lectured  in  Williams  College  and  at  New  Haven. 
It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  meet  two  men  who  were  his 
pupils  before  the  founding  of  the  Institute.  One  of  them  is 
Hon.  Elias  Leavenworth  of  Syracuse,  who,  as  a  legislator, 
has  always  appreciated  science.  The  other  is  Judge  Parker 
of  Albany,  always  interested  in  scientific  men.  Mr.  L.  con- 
siders his  effort  to  advance  science  one  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  in  his  escutcheon. 

To  establish  a  school  of  science  the  Professor  had  the 
enthusiasm,  but  not  the  means,  and  in  that  respect  was  like 
nearly  all  men  of  science.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  had,  and 
with  a  wise  provision  he  established  this  school.  Taking  a 
small  number  of  students,  it  gave  special  instruction,  and  the 
students  were  required  to  tell  to  others,  in  groups  of  five  or 
six,  what  they  knew.  To  young  men  intending  to  teach,  this 
was  important.  In  the  lectures  of  Prof.  Eaton  at  Utica 
came  the  teachings  which  resulted  in  the  scientific  interest  of 
Prof.  Dana,  and  Prof.  Gray,  and  Prof.  Torrey,  our  greatest 
botanist.  In  the  progress  of  civilization,  it  is  not  the  slow, 
uniform  motion  of  the  great  masses  that  helps  it  forward,  but 
the  few  men  who  come  out  from  them  and  strike  a  new  key. 
Prof.  Eaton  taught  us  the  manipulations  in  science  with  the 
simplest  materials,  so  that  a  student  could  go  into  the  forest 
and  construct  a  pneumatic  trough,  or  a  balance,  and  perform 
there  his  experiments  in  chemistry  or  physics.  To  his  mem- 
ory we  owe  much.  His  name  has  been  neglected  before  the 
public,  but  cherished  in  the  bosoms  of  those  who  knew  him, 
a  man  capable  of  interesting  young  men,  having  a  brain  one- 
fourth  larger  than  the  mass  of  mankind,  and  that  brain  de- 
voted to  the  service  of  science.  If  we  with  great  means  do 
what  he  did  with  small,  we  shall  deserve  well  of  coming 
generations. 

Prof.  H.  B.  Nason  then  spoke  as  follows,  concerning  the 
moral  and  religious  character  of  Prof.  Eaton  : 

The  death  of  Prof.  Eaton  occurred  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1842.  Nearly  the  last  words  that  fell  from  his  lips  were  : 
"  I  submit  to  my  Heavenly  Father's  will  "—words  uttered 


44  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

without  doubt  in  the  greatest  sincerity,  and  words  expres- 
sive of  that  calm,  peaceful,  loving,  child-like  submission 
which  have  so  often  been  uttered  by  those  who  have  had  a 
firm,  unswerving  faith  in  the  forgiving,  tender  mercy  of  an 
ever  indulgent  Heavenly  Father.  The  same  sentiment  has 
been  expressed  by  the  high  and  the  low,  in  the  palace,  in  the 
hovel,  before  the  glitter  of  the  executioner's  axe,  surrounded 
by  blazing  fagots,  as  well  as  when  life  has  gently  closed  like 
a  summer's  day.  "Thy  will  be  done  !"  "  Father,  I  trust  in 
Thee!"  "Into  Thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit!"  "It  is 
well!"  Each  dying  sentence  breathes  the  same  trusting 
faith.  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  whom  science  has  always  been 
pleased  to  honor,  once  said  :  "  I  envy  no  quality  of  the 
mind  or  intellect  in  others  ;  not  genius,  power,  wit  or  fancy  ; 
but  if  I  could  choose  what  would  be  most  delightful  and  I 
believe  most  useful  to  me,  I  should  prefer  a  firm  religious 
belief  to  every  other  blessing."  From  what  I  have  been  able 
to  learn  from  those  who  knew  him  best,  Prof.  Eaton  was  a 
firm  believer  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  was  sustained  and 
comforted  by  its  truths  amid  trials  and  afflictions  which 
seldom  fall  to  the  lot  of  man.  Being  called  away  very  fre- 
quently from  home,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  writing  often  and 
with  great  frankness  concerning  his  thoughts  and  views  of 
religious  subjects.  In  one  of  these  letters,  written  to  his  wife 
after  some  deep  affliction,  he  says  :  "  I  feel  that  these  trials 
are  but  the  chastisement  of  a  Father,  which,  though  seem- 
ingly severe,  are  designed  to  eventuate  in  my  more  substan- 
tial good.  My  faith  in  Divine  revelation  and  in  the  immediate 
agency  of  an  all-seeing  God  is  greatly  strengthened." 

Again  he  writes  :  "  I  think  He  who  formed  all  hearts  has 
pierced  mine  with  a  true  conviction  of  my  lost  and  sinful 
state.  My  little  office  has  become  to  me  a  house  of  prayer. 
I  can  close  my  work  by  strenuous  exertion  so  as  to  gain  two 
or  three  hours  each  day  for  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  con- 
templation and  prayer,  vigorously  struggling  to  be  relieved 
from  my  heavy  burden  of  sin."  "At  last,"  he  adds,  in 
speaking  of  his  conversion,  "  I  seemed  to  consent  to  all  the 
terms  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  throw  myself  wholly  upon 


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45 


Divine  mercy  without  reserve.  I  called  aloud  upon  the 
Redeemer  as  an  elder  brother  in  the  flesh,  who  had  influence 
with  our  Heavenly  Father,  to  present  me  as  a  candidate  for 
mercy.  I  have  faith  to  believe  that  he  heard  my  prayer,  and 
gave  my  soul  its  first  moments  of  real  peace  for  eighteen 
years.  I  could  not  refrain  from  solemnly  committing  my 
wife  and  children  to  the  hands  of  the  God  who  gave  them, 
and  dedicating  them  to  the  service  of  the  Father  of  Mercies." 

Again,  when  absent  from  home,  he  says  :  "  I  rarely  neglect 
to  address  the  Throne  of  Grace  for  my  family  and  myself 
morning  and  evening."  Years  afterwards,  in  referring  to  the 
period  of  his  conversion  to  religion,  he  says  :  "  Though  I 
have  daily  good  reason  to  reproach  myself  for  want  of  zeal 
in  so  important  a  cause  as  religion,  I  hope  I  have  never  lost 
sight  of  the  great  duty  of  man,  for  any  considerable  period 
of  'time." 

In  all  his  religious  writings  he  seems  to  show  a  feeling  of 
deep  dependence  upon  divine  strength  and  wisdom,  and  a 
sincere  repentance  for  his  shortcomings  and  failures.  A 
desire  to  know  and  perform  his  whole  duty,  at  whatever  cost 
or  sacrifice,  was  often  expressed.  In  making  application  for 
admission  to  one  of  our  churches,  after  stating  his  views,  he 
writes  :  "  I  wish  to  be  directed  on  the  ground  of  duty  alone. 
I  beg  of  you  to  view  it  both  with  regard  to  my  individual 
duty  and  the  general  interest  of  the  great  cause  of  religion. 
I  can  readily  bring  my  feelings  to  cordial  acquiescence  in 
whatever  duty  commands.  But  I  cannot  consent  to  be 
viewed  by  you  as  an  enemy  of  religion." 

There  are  those  present  to-day  who  can  tell  you  from 
personal  experience  of  the  many  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
which  made  Prof.  Eaton  one  of  the  best  and  truest  of  friends. 
Although  perhaps  at  times  somewhat  rough  in  his  appearance 
and  manner,yet  whenever  occasion  required,  the  big  generous 
heart  within  prompted  deeds  and  actions  which  can  never  be 
forgotten.  Perhaps  nowhere  were  these  traits  better  seen 
and  appreciated  than  in  his  own  family. 

One  of  his  children  who  has  honored  the  memory  of  her 
father  by  a  zealous  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  education 


46  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

of  her  own  sex  and  who  honors  us  and  this  occasion  with 
her  presence  to-day,  says  in  a  recent  letter,  "  I  was  Blessed 
by  the  genial,  loving  Prof.  Amos  Eaton's  tenderest  care  and 
influence."  One  who  often  visited  in  his  family  told  me  that 
nowhere  was  there  ever  seen  a  better  exhibition  of  true 
parental  care  and  affection,  and  no  one  ever  mourned  with 
deeper  sorrow  the  loss  of  those  near  and  dear  to  him  of  his 
own  family. 

There  seems  to  be  a  principle  in  the  human  heart  which 
leads  us  ever  to  speak  kindly  of  the  dead,  and  with  them  to 
bury  anything  of  wrong  that  may  have  existed  in  their  lives 
or  their  character.  And  to-day  as  we  recount  the  many 
virtues  of  the  truly  great  man  whose  remains  repose  beneath 
us,  let  us  draw  the  mantle  of  charity  over  any  weakness  of 
nature,  and  trust  that  the  record  of  an  earnest  life  is  inscribed 
against  his  name,  and  not  only  the  tear  of  the  recording 
angel,  but  the  all-saving  blood  of  a  forgiving  Saviour  purified 
that  soul  from  the  dross  of  earth  and  made  it  a  fit  inhabitant 
of  heaven. 

As  in  ancient  times  the  brows  of  bloodless  victors  were 
crowned  with  a  myrtle  wreath,  so  to-day  as  we  dedicate  this 
block  of  granite  to  the  memory  of  Amos  Eaton  we  place 
upon  it  the  wreath  of  myrtle.  True  it  will  soon  wither  and 
die,  but  the  good  deeds,  the  noble  actions  and  words  of  the 
teacher  will  live  on  in  the  hearts  of  those  he  instructed,  and 
their  influence  shall  be  felt  when  this  massive  block  of  granite 
shall  have  crumbled  to  dust ;  yea,  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 

The  exercises  then  closed  with  the  benediction,  pronounced 
by  Rev.  Dr.  Brinsmade. 

Miss  Sara  Cady  Eaton,  for  many  years  Principal  of  the 
Rochester  Female  Seminary,  and  Mrs.  S.  L.  Marsden,  of 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  daughters  of  Prof.  Eaton,  also  a  grand- 
son, S.  Arthur  Marsden  of  New  Haven,  were  present  at  the 
dedication. 

The  monument  is  a  cubical  block  of  light  gray  Granite, 
measuring  four  feet  six  inches,  by  five  feet,  and  bears  the 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


47 


simple  inscription,  "  Prof.  Amos  Eaton,  born  May  ryth,  1776, 
died  May  loth,  1842."  The  stone  was  taken  from  the  quarry 
of  George  Marks  on  Clark's  Island,  coast  of  Maine,  and 
weighs  eleven  tons.  It  was  cut  by  Messrs.  W.  H.  &  L.  L. 
Dyer,  of  Troy. 

The  remark  was  made  by  one  of  the  oldest  graduates, 
that  he  could  not  conceive  of  a  monument  more  appropriate 
to  Prof.  Eaton,  for  like  the  man,  it  was  simple,  massive  and 
substantial. 


48  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


RAND'S  HALL,  8  O'CLOCK,  P.  M. 


The  meeting  of  the  Alumni  was  called  to  order  by  the 
acting  President,  Alfred  P.  Boiler. 

Hon.    James    Forsyth,    President    of   the    Institute,    was 
introduced  and  delivered  the  following  address  : 
Gentlemen  of  the  Alumni : 

The  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the  Rensselaer 
Polytechnic  Institute  has  so  many  features  of  interest  to  all 
who  have  been  connected  with  it,  as  well  as  to  those  who 
have  witnessed  its  rise  and  progress  in  this  city,  and  present 
success  as  a  scientific  and  professional  school,  that  they 
have  felt  it  to  be  not  inappropriate  to  mark  this  year  in  its 
history  with  more  than  usual  ceremony. 

You  have  assembled  for  that  purpose.  Be  assured  of  the 
interest  and  hearty  sympathy  of  all  our  citizens  in  your 
exercises  at  this  time,  and  of  their  cheerful  co-operation  in 
making  them  worthy  of  the  occasion. 

On  behalf  of  our  citizens,  and  especially  the  Trustees  of 
the  Institute,  who  desire  to  make  your  visit  to  this  school,  at 
this  time,  happy  and  profitable,  and  on  behalf  of  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  city,  who,  this  evening  opens  the  doors  of 
his  hospitable  mansion  for  your  reception,  I  welcome  you, 
one  and  all,  to  the  Institute,  to  our  city,  and  its  hospital- 
ities. 

Prof.  E.  N.  Horsford,  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Class  of 
1838,  late  U.  S.  Commissioner  to  the  Vienna  Exposition, 
then  delivered  the  following  address : 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


49 


ADDRESS  BY  PROF. 

CLASS  OF 


Gentlemen  of  the  Alumni  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute : 

I  might,  as  a  loyal  son  of  our  Alma  Mater,  try  to  pay  the 
tribute  of  my  respect  to  the  Institution  which  has  grown 
from  comparatively  small  beginnings  to  its  present  com- 
manding position.  I  might  speak  of  the  genius  of  its 
founder;  of  his  discovery  of  the  system  of  object  teaching, 
and  of  the  then  new  method  of  training  young  men  to 
become  teachers  ;  of  his  great  services  of  other  kinds  to  the 
cause  of  education  ;  of  his  vast  acquisitions  and  perfect 
command  of  them  at  all  times.  I  might  glance  at  the  career 
of  the  graduates  I  have  known.  I  might  recall  to  your 
memory  the  names  of  some  of  the  friends  of  the  Institute 
in  the  days  of  my  membership — of  some  who  still  live ;  of 
more  that  have  gone — but  at  the  best,  I  should  indifferently 
fulfill  the  task.  It  will  be  performed  by  others  better  fitted, 
by  sons  more  familiar  with  the  record.  I  will  not  add,  by 
sons  who  remember,  with  a  warmer  gratitude  than  I,  the 
privileges  that  were  secured  to  us  here. 

It  was  a  source  of  pride  and  satisfaction  to  me  when,  some 
years  after  my  graduation,  it  was  my  fortune  to  enter  Leibig's 
Laboratory  as  a  pupil,  to  find  that  the  methods  pursued  under 
the  guidance  of  that  great  Teacher,  were  in  many  respects 
the  methods  I  had  been  familiar  with  in  the  Rensselaer 
Institute ;  carried  out  with  the  ampler  facilities  .furnished 
by  Government,  but  essentially  the  same  in  conception,  in 
fitness,  in  certainty  of  result. 

In  a  recent  visit  to  Europe  it  was  refreshing  to  see  in  the 
Polytechnic  Education  of  Austria,  which  now  unquestion- 
7 


50  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

ably  has  no  superior  in  the* world,  the  methods  of  the 
Rensselaer  School  of  fifty  years  ago.  It  will  not  do  to  say 
that  the  methods  were  copied  from  ours,  but  it  is  proper  to 
say  that  the  inspiration  that  gave  them  to  the  eastern  world 
moved  the  mind  of  Prof.  Eaton  at  a  period  as  early  as  it 
did  that  of  Pestalozzi,  and  Fellenberg,  and  Leibig,  and  under 
circumstances  much  less  favorable  for  development.  The 
mention  of  the  Old  World,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  call  it, 
suggests  to  me  a  theme. 

I  can  think  of  nothing  with  which  I  can  better  occupy  the 
few  moments  allotted  to  me,  than  in  presenting  a  picture  of 
the  life  that  showed  itself  last  summer  to  an  American 
Commissioner,  at  the  grandest  show  of  the  products  of 
polytechnic  industry  that  has  ever  been  gathered  for  the 
study  and  entertainment  of  the  world.  We  do  not  meet  here 
solely  to  be  enlightened.  We  meet  to  revive  cherished 
memories — to  lay  the  foundation  of  new  ones.  I  confess  I 
should  like  of  all  things  to  listen  to  the  personal  history  of 
the  classmates  with  whom  I  used  to  wander  in  search  of 
plants,  and  minerals,  and  birds  ;  with  whom  I  used  to  con- 
duct wonderful  triangulations  of  the  Hudson  Valley,  and 
extemporaneous  surveys  of  impossible  railways  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Hoosac  Mountain.  About  the  time  I  was  ready 
to  leave  the  Rensselaer  School  some  thirty- six  years  ago, 
there  came  to  town  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  a  lecture, 
Col.  William  L.  Stone,  for  many  years  the  editor  of  the 
New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  better  known  to  this  gener- 
ation as  the  author  of  the  "  Life  of  Red  Jacket,  the  Seneca 
Chief."  He  commenced  his  lecture  by  answering  the  ques- 
tion whether  he  had  come  to  Troy  supposing  he  could 
enlighten  its  citizens,  by  relating  the  anecdote  of  a  man  found 
digging  a  hole  in  a  cellar.  On  being  asked  its  object,  he 
answered  by  saying  that  "  it  was  to  let  the  dark  out."  My 
object  is  humbler  than  Col.  Stone's  was.  I  propose  only  to 
try  to  entertain  you. 

In  crossing  the  old  city  of  Vienna,  by  the  way  of  the 
Kaenrtner  street,  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  Burg  to  that 
of  the  Hotel  Metropol,  you  pass  not  far  from  the  St.  Steph- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


51 


ens  Cathedral  an  apothecary's  shop.  Over  the  door  is  the 
unique  sign  "  Apotheker  zum  heiligen  Geist"  When  I  first 
read  it,  I  was  startled  with  what  seemed  to  me  an  unworthy 
appropriation  of  language  associated  in  all  our  minds  with 
some  of  our  most  sacred  thoughts.  "  Apothecary  to  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Could  this  quaint  sign  cover  up  some  medi- 
aeval legend  ?  Vienna  is  full  of  very  unique  usages  connected 
with  the  Catholic  Church.  Some  of  them — such  for  exam- 
ple as  the  procession  on  Corpus  Christi  day,  in  which  the 
Imperial  family,  the  Ministers  of  State,  the  Dignitaries  of 
the  Church,  the  Capuchines,  the  Benedictines,  and  Francis- 
cans, the  societies  and  the  soldiery  take  part, — in  orien- 
tal magnificence  of  costume  is  something  marvelous  to 
behold,  and  is  scarcely  to  be  elsewhere  seen.  One  must  not 
decide  too  hastily.  The  sign  always  challenged  my  atten- 
tion when  I  crossed  the  city  "  Apotheker  zum  heiligen  Geist" 
At  another  point  a  little  inn  has  the  sign,  "  Zur  Auge  Gottes" 
To  the  eye  of  God.  Perhaps  this  is  a  form  of  inviting  and 
promising  fair  dealing.  It  is  undoubtedly  free  from  the 
charge  of  being  purposely  irreverent.  But  what  does  the 
Apothecary  to  the  Holy  Ghost  mean  ?  One  day  it  flashed 
upon  me.  This  Heiligen  Geist  does  not  mean  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Heiligen  means  healing.  It  is  the  Apothecary  to 
the  healing  spirit.  This  was  interesting.  It  was  quite  satis- 
factory. We  have  made  a  special  appropriation  of  the  word 
as  applied  to  spirit,  but  in  its  compound  of  holiday  we  main- 
tain the  use  of  the  Germans.  The  holidays  are  healing 
days.  Days  when  the  torn  or  tired  spirit  may  rest  and  be 
healed,  and  restored.  The  holy  days  too  are  healing  days. 
The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  healing  spirit.  I  confess  that  this  little 
line  of  reflection  helped  me  much  to  understand  a  great  deal 
that  I  saw  in  my  recent  visit  to  Vienna.  There  were  num- 
erous healing  days  in  Austria.  Let  us  have  a  healing  hour. 
In  passing  from  England  to  the  Continent  and  especially 
to  Austria,  you  go  from  a  country  of  rare  beauty,  and  towns 
in  general  of  sombre  look,  to  a  country  of  less  beauty,  per- 
haps, but  to  towns  that  impress  you  at  once  with  their  bright 
cheerful  sunny  aspect.  Liverpool  and  London  are  dark. 


52  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

They  bear  the  stain  of  the  Mersey  and  the  Thames.  Dwel- 
lings and  shops  and  public  buildings  seem  draped,  in  Lon- 
don. Vienna  looks  as  if  departing  sunlight  had  been  caught 
and  ingrained  in  the  walls.  This  remark  applies  to  Paris, 
Brussels,  Berlin,  Frankfort,  Wiesbaden,  Liepsic,  to  Linz,  to 
Munich,  to  Pesth,  Innsbruck,  to  Kolin  and  Wittingan — as 
well  as  to  Vienna.  Paris  owes  possibly  much  of  her 
architectural  splendor  to  the  proximity  of  quarries,  whose 
blocks,  easily  wrought  under  the  chisel,  acquire  hardness 
with  years.  This  softness  of  the  building  stone  has  de- 
veloped a  race  of  sculptors.  Vienna  owes  much  to  her 
command  of  an  abundant  light  drab  cement,  which  in  its 
plastic  condition  invites  the  art  of  the  modeller,  and  when 
the  form  has  gained  its  proportions,  time  hardens  it  to  very 
stone. 

The  old  city  of  Vienna  owed  its  location  to  the  junc- 
tion with  the  Danube,  of  a  small  and  now  insignificant 
stream  called  the  Wien.  The  city  sprang  up  at  the  angle. 
The  Danube  is  a  vagabond  sort  of  river  like  the  Mississippi, 
wandering  about  the  great  plains  of  Austria  and  Hungary, 
cutting  its  way  through  an  easily  yielding  soil,  and  forming 
new  channels  with  every  season  of  high  water.  The  Im- 
perial government  in  recent  times  has  spent  vast  sums  of 
money  in  carrying  out  plans  for  narrowing  and  confining  the 
Danube  so  as  to  maintain  its  navigability.  A  few  years  ago 
there  was  the  city  of  Vienna  surrounded  by  a  wall  and  ditch, 
and  glacis,  and  entered  through  gates,  while  around  it  were 
numerous  suburban  villages.  These  villages  have  enlarged 
and  grown  together  up  to  the  glacis,  and  ten  years  ago  the 
walls  were  thrown  down  and  the  ditches  filled  up,  and  a  part 
of  the  glacis  appropriated  to  buildings,  and  a  broad  avenue 
and  parks.  Now  from  the  Danube  on  one  side  around  the 
old  city  to  the  Danube  on  the  other,  the  site  of  the  ancient 
wall  and  ditch  is  occupied  by  a  magnificent  street  or  boule- 
vard, some  250  feet  wide,  skirted  throughout  most  of  its 
length  by  long,  lofty  palatial  blocks,  often  spoken  of  as  a 
succession  of  palaces.  Indeed  many  of  them  much  exceed 
in  splendor  and  majesty  of  external  appearance  most  of  the 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


S3 


imperial  residences  of  Austria.  As  you  pass  into  the  old 
city  you  enter  upon  narrow  streets,  with  here  and  there  little 
open  squares  or  markets  too  picturesque  to  yield  to  des- 
cription. Come  with  me  into  the  square  of  the  Neuer 
Markt,  on  one  side  of  which  is  the  old  church  of  the 
Capuchines.  In  the  crypts  of  this  ancient  edifice,  which 
is  not  at  all  imposing  in  appearance,  rest  the  remains  of 
the  imperial  family  of  the  Hapsburgs,  in  massive  bronze 
sarcophagi  of  most  elaborate  workmanship.  Grandest 
among  them  all  is  the  tomb  of  the  great  Empress  Maria 
Theresa,  who  was  to  Austria  almost  as  much  as  Washing- 
ton was  to  our  country.  On  one  side,  among  the  most 
recently  brought,  there  was  the  sarcophagus  in  which  rest 
the  remains  of  the  poor  unfortunate  Maximilian,  the 
last  Emperor  of  Mexico,  and  the  husband  of  the  beautiful 
and  devoted  Carlotta.  It  was  touching  to  see  the  fresh 
wreath  of  flowers  with  which  pious  hands  daily  testify  to  the 
affection  in  which  the  memory  of  this  Imperial  Prince  is  held. 
There  were  a  great  many  others  which  might  be  described 
in  dimensions  and  weight,  of  Emperors  and  Empresses,  of 
Princes  and  Princesses,  and  Royal  Dukes  and  Generals  and 
Admirals,  but  what  impressed  me  most  was  the  absolutely 
free  entrance  to  the  last  resting  place  of  the  imperial,  illus- 
trious dead. 

•  It  was  a  type  of  the  general  arrangements  that  prevail  in 
Vienna.  One  of  the  chief  entrances  to  the  old  city  leads 
through  the  great  palace,  the  residence  of  the  Emperor. 
Everybody  drove  or  walked  there  to  whom  it  offered  a 
shorter  way.  The  gardens  at  Schcenbrunn  were  accessible, 
with  all  their  wealth  of  beauty,  the  walks  and  groves,  the 
botanic  garden  and  the  zoological  gardens,  on  the  same 
terms.  So  you  might  be  conducted  through  the  palace  at 
Luxembourg  and  see  the  family  portraits  and  the  apartments 
which  have  echoed  to  so  many  welcomes  to  the  august 
crowned  heads  of  the  old  world,  and  which,  last  of  all,  were 
occupied  by  the  Shah  of  Persia.  The  imperial  household 
seems  to  be  so  near  the  people.  In  one  of  the  porches,  or 
rather  long  corridors,  I  noticed,  that  the  swallows  had  the 


54  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

common  right  of  free  entrance  tnth  the  additional  privilege 
of  permanent  and  undisturbed  residence  with  their  house- 
holds. Their  social  twitter  in  the  midst  of  the  gardens  of 
the  imperial  palace  reminded  me  of  one  of  George  Robbins' 
famous  advertisements  of  a  private  residence  near  London, 
which  he  was  about  to  sell  at  auction.  There  was  much  to 
be  said,  he  remarked,  of  the  beauty  of  the  situation,  the 
extent  of  the  landscape,  and  the  picturesqueness  of  the 
surroundings,  but  he  must  not  conceal  two  drawbacks — the 
songs  of  the  nightingales  and  the  litter  of  the  rose  leaves. 
Cross  over  the  street  from  the  Church  of  the  Capuchines  to 
the  hotel  of  the  Monck,  500  years  old,  and  lunch  in  the  dining 
room.  You  reach  it  by  descending  some  thirty  feet  from  the 
level  of  the  sidewalk.  What  massive  columns  support  the 
groined  arches  above  you  !  You  are  in  a  place  safe  in  time 
of  seige.  How  many  have  shared  this  protection  in  the  wars 
of  Austria !  How  many  hearts  have  been  wrung  with  the 
intelligence  brought  from  the  front  to  mothers  and  sisters 
and  children  in  these  retreats  !  Here  all  day  long  you  find 
ladies  and  gentlemen  breakfasting,  lunching  or  dining,  in  a 
quiet  easily  imagined.  Come  around  to  a  narrow  street  a 
short  distance  towards  the  Danube,  to  another  more  famous 
cellar,  and  quite  as  old  as  the  dining  hall  of  the  Monck.  It 
is  the  Esterhazy  cellar.  I  will  tell  you  a  story  about  it.  I 
was  one  day  invited  by  a  party  of  four  gentlemen  from 
North  Germany  whose  acquaintance  I  had  made  on  my  way 
to  Vienna,  to  visit  the  Esterhazy  cellar.  What  it  was  I  did 
not  then  know,  but  I  thought  it  must  be  some  famous  old 
restaurant,  like  Auerbach's  cellar  in  Leipsic,  or  the  White 
Horse  in  London,  and  accepted  the  invitation.  I  afterwards 
learned  that  it  was  one  of  the  famous  places  of  Vienna ;  a 
cellar  founded  500  years  ago  by  one  of  the  Esterhazy 
Princes  as  a  charity,  where  it  was  provided  for  at  all  time  to 
come,  that  any  man  on  Sunday  between  twelve  and  one  at 
noon  should  be  able  to  obtain  at  cost  a  glass  of  some  one  of 
the  best  varieties  of  Hungarian  wine. 

I  did  not  find  time  to  go  with   my   friends,  but   one  day 
while  sitting  at  lunch  at  the  hotel  of  the  Wildman,  as  old  as 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


55 


the  Esterhazy  cellar,  three  of  my  four  friends  came  in,  and 
not  observing  me,  took  their  seats  at  a  table  about  five  yards 
distant,  and  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  their  soup.  They 
said  nothing  to  each  other,  but  occasionally  their  faces  were 
wreathed  in  smiles,  and  from  time  to  time  they  indulged,  as 
I  imagined,  in  an  undercurrent  of  satisfied  chuckle  that 
may  have  indicated  their  judgment  of  the  wine  they  had 
taken.  A  few  moments  later,  the  fourth  of  the  party  came 
in,  and  looking  about  in  vain  to  find  a  familiar  face,  seated 
himself  at  a  table  about  as  far  from  his  three  friends  as  I 
was — that  is  about  five  yards — and  ordered  his  lunch.  A 
moment  later  I  crossed  to  the  table  where  my  three  friends 
were  sitting.  They  gave  me  a  very  cordial  reception,  but 
each  added  in  turn  that  they  had  been  to  the  Esterhazy 
cellar,  but  had  somehow  lost  their  friend  and  could  not 
imagine  what  had  become  of  him.  Parting  with  them,  I 
went  to  the  table  where  the  fourth  gentleman  was  sitting. 
He  received  me  also  with  great  cordiality,  and  added  that 
he  and  his  friends  had  been  to  the  Esterhazy  cellar,  but  that 
he  had  somehow  lost  them  and  could  not  imagine  what  had 
become  of  them.  I  resumed  my  seat  to  see  the  party  of 
three  pay  their  reckoning  and  leave,  without  seeing  or  being 
seen  by  the  fourth  of  their  group ; — from  which  it  may  be 
inferred  that  under  certain  circumstances,  even  in  Austria, 
the  capacities  of  the  auditory  and  optic  nerves  are  not 
effective  beyond  a  distance  of  fifteen  feet. 

I  might  tell  you  of  the  great  Cathedral  of  St.  Stephen, 
and  of  the  beautiful  votive  church,  erected  by  a  former 
Emperor  in  fulfillment  of  a,  vow  made  in  severe  illness,  and 
of  others  of  rare  design,  and  of  the  Protestant  Church  kept 
alive  by  the  Americans  during  the  Exposition  in  an  edifice 
in  which  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  hear  a  sentence  the 
preacher  uttered.  So  I  might  speak  of  the  public  institu- 
tions, or  such  as  I  had  the  fortune  to  see.  But  let  me  first 
turn  to  what  was  of  special  interest  in  Vienna  this  last  sum- 
mer, the  great  World's  Fair,  the  International  Exposition. 

When  I  reached  Vienna,  there  were  on  exhibiton  two 
cases  of  pistols  and  fire  arms,  and  a  crayon  wall  picture 


56  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

illustrating  the  pork  slaughtering  and  packing  of  Cincin- 
nati, which  perhaps  I  may  say  was  prepared  in  Cincinnati 
at  my  solicitation  to  illustrate  one  of  our  great  industries. 
The  remaining  articles  of  American  contribution  were  in 
piles  of  boxes  in  the  great  building,  in  cars  on  the  tracks 
near  the  doors,  on  the  way,  or  on  side  tracks,  everywhere 
between  Vienna  their  destination  and  Trieste,  Paris,  Bre- 
men and  Hamburgh,  the  ports  through  which  they  had 
been  sent.  Mr.  Shultz  entered  on  his  duties  as  chief  com- 
missioner the  day  but  one  after  my  arrival,  May  i6th.  On 
the  loth  of  June  the  American  department  was  formally 
opened,  the  barriers  at  the  entrance  being  removed  and  a 
little  procession  with  the  American  Minister,  Mr.  Jay,  and 
Mr.  Shultz  at  its  head,  passing  through  the  principal  avenues. 
Looking  at  it  as  it  was  and  thinking  what  it  might  have  been 
made,  there  was  a  feeling  of  regret,  but  the  American  ex- 
hibition was  nevertheless  creditable  to  us.  It  surpassed  any 
former  one  that  we  have  made  at  the  International  Expo- 
sitions of  Europe,  and  was  certainly  more  numerously  visited 
than  any  other  department  of  the  Exposition.  The  juries 
awarded  us  a  larger  percentage  of  prizes  than  was  received 
by  any  other  nation. 

I  could  give  an  account  of  the  organization  of  the  juries, 
of  their  numbers  and  their  weight  as  men,  judged  either  by 
their  rank,  including  princes,  dukes,  earls,  ambassadors, 
officers  of  the  navy  and  army,  physicians,  artists,  manufac- 
turers and  professors,  or  by  their  great  experience  in  Inter- 
national exhibitions,  or  by  their  grand  culture.  It  may  be 
enough  to  say  that  I  never  before  looked  upon  a  body  of 
seven  hundred  men  who  have,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  such  and 
so  much  influence  upon  the  great  interests  of  civilization. 
The  work  of  the  juries  was  arduous.  I  usually  took  my 
coffee  and  roll  at  the  Exposition,  two  miles  from  my  lodg- 
ings at  eight  o'clock,  and  with  the  interruption  of  an  hour, 
or  an  hour  and  a  half,  for  the  lunch  at  twelve,  I  remained 
till  five  or  six,  for  a  period  of  about  six  weeks,  when  the 
labors  of  the  juries  were  brought  to  a  close. 

There  were  about  70,000  exhibitors.     In  the  single  depart- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


57 


ment  of  textiles  there  were  over  6,000.  Of  exhibitors  of 
wines  and  liquors  I  do  not  know  the  number.  But  of  the 
samples  gathered  for  examination  by  the  sub-sections  of  the 
food  jury  at  one  cellar  in  Vienna,  there  were  30,000,  and 
these  did  not  include  the  French  or  Italian  wines.  The  total 
number  of  varieties  could  not  be  less  than  15,000.  The 
language  in  constant  use  in  the  juries  was  of  course  German, 
but  most  of  the  jurors  spoke  French,  and  in  the  meetings 
of  the  juries  when  all  the  sections  were  assembled,  the 
president  put  every  question  both  in  German  and  French. 
Without  German,  the  juror  was  illy  qualified.  With  French, 
but  little  better;  with  neither,  he  was  unfortunate,  as  was 
the  country  he  represented. 

The  International  jury,  the  designation  of  the  whole  body 
was  as  a  general  thing  elected  by  the  exhibitors  from  each 
country,  from  the  commissioners  sent  by  the  government  of 
that  country.  Ten  exhibitors  in  a  class  were  entitled  to  a 
juror,  over  one  hundred  entitled  a  country  to  two  jurors, 
over  two  hundred  to  three,  and  so  on.  The  deficiencies  in 
the  American  department  shut  us  out  from  representatives 
on  the  juries  in  several  classes,  and  in  but  two  were  we 
entitled  to  two  jurors  each.  In  not  one,  to  more  than  two. 
The  juries  in  each  class  resolved  themselves  into  sections, 
and  those  sections  kito  sub-sections.  My  own  jury,  that  of 
food  as  a  product  of  industry,  numbered  about  seventy,  of 
which  there  were  five  sections,  covering  grains,  wines,  sugar 
and  conserves,  canned  meats  and  fruits,  and  tobacco. 
Under  grains,  there  were  two  sub-sections,  one  of  flour,  and 
everything  connected  with  milling ;  and  another  including 
everything  connected  with  bread  baking,  and  the  preparation 
of  macaroni,  sago,  and  so  forth. 

The  independence,  fairness,  earnestness  and  thorough 
fitness  and  accomplishment  of  the  jurors  were  conspicuous. 
It  so  happened  that  I  was  placed  on  the  food  jury  by  the 
voice  of  the  American  exhibitors;  and  on  the  jury  of  com- 
merce, on  that  of  the  history  of  prices,  and  that  of  waste 
products,  by  the  Imperial  direction ;  mainly  doubtless,  be- 
cause I  happened  to  be  the  only  American  who  was  at  the 
8 


58  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

same  time  a  commissioner,  had  served  as  a  juror,  and  had 
some  command  of  the  language.  The  duties  on  the  last 
three  juries  were  especially  pleasant.  Among  the  exhibits 
was  for  example,  a  collection  from  England  of  a  sample  of 
each  and  every  kind  of  article  imported  into  England  in 
1870.  A  collection  accompanied  by  elaborate  statistical 
tables,  all  prepared  by  Prof.  Archer,  of  Edinburg.  There 
was  a  sample  of  every  article  imported  into  Austria  through 
the  port  of  Trieste,  and  of  every  kind  of  export  from 
Austria. 

The  greatest  interest  was  taken  in  the  types  of  graphic 
delineation  of  the  commercial  statistics  of  different  coun- 
tries. Some  of  them  were  most  ingenious.  These  had  been 
printed,  some  of  them,  indeed  most  of  those  from  Hungary, 
at  an  enormous  expense  for  this  exposition.  We  had 
brought  to  us  a  collection  of  statistical  tables  prepared  by 
the  Japanese,  exhibiting  their  commerce  for  the  last  ten 
years.  Its  appearance  greatly  interested  the  jury,  as  show- 
ing the  progress  of  this  people,  and  it  received  the  highest 
award  of  the  imperial  direction.  The  different  methods  of 
delineation  were  all  interesting  and  some  very  original.  \Ye 
are  accustomed  to  the  exhibition  of  statistics  on  scales  of 
ordinates  yielding  profiles,  as  in  showing  the  line  of  level  of 
a  railway,  or  the  amount  of  rain-fall  or  variations  of  tem- 
perature or  barometric  pressure,  but  we  had  at  the  exposition 
a  great  variety  of  devices.  From  Russia,  industries  were 
.  represented  in  sectors  of  circles.  The  area  of  the  total  circle 
representing  the  collective  production  in  a  given  district, 
and  the  areas  of  the  sectors  variously  colored,  the  relative 
production  of  the  different  industries.  The  tea  trade  was 
exhibited  in  uniform  blue  stripes  going  out  from  China  to 
all  the  world,  and  the  narrower  red  stripes  showing  in  their 
width  the  relative  amount  of  redistribution  to  other  coun- 
tries from  particular  ports,  as  London  for  example.  Switzer- 
land gave  the  topography  of  her  industries,  showing  where 
the  wood  carving,  the  watches,  and  bijouterie,  the  silks, 
woolens,  iron  ware,  &c.,'were  produced,  and  in  an  atlas  of 
charts  their  development  for  the  last  hundred  years  or  more. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  59 

In  other  atlases  the  extension  of  their  foreign  trade  and  its 
different  kinds,  and  the  kinds  and  amounts  sent  to  each 
country  were  graphically  displayed. 

I  was  desirous  that  there  should  be  some  recognition  of 
the  great  cartoons  from  Cincinnati  illustrating  the  pork 
slaughtering  and  packing.  When  I  brought  the  picture  to 
the  attention  of  the  food  jury,  they  discussed  the  subject  at 
length,  but  decided  that  as  they  could  not  eat  pictures, 
the  cartoons  did  not  belong  in  their  class.  I  succeeded  in 
the  commerce  jury  on  the  ground  that  the  picture  was  a 
graphic  delineation  of  an  industry,  partly  I  think,  as  a 
graceful  compliment  to  our  country. 

The  New  York  Historical  Society  gained  the  medal  of 
progress  on  the  ground  of  the  vast  amount  of  statistical 
material  contained  in  its  selection  of  volumes  of  reports 
from  the  several  States,  though  they  were  not  by  graphic 
delineations. 

It  would  be  an  idle  task  to  attempt  to  describe  the  expo- 
sition, which  was  five  times  as  large  as  that  of  Paris  in  1867, 
and  stamped  as  it  was  especially  by  the  influence  of  its 
vicinity  to  the  Orient.  The  spaces  were  ample,  the  orna- 
mentation something  which  it  was  sad  to  think  was  to  last 
for  only  half  a  year.  Every  country  had  its  school  house, 
its  restaurant,  and  characteristic  preparation  of  food  and 
beverages,  its  peasant  house,  and  many  sovereigns  had  their 
miniature  palaces  in  the  grounds  of  the  exposition.  That 
of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  was  a  wonder  of  oriental  show. 

Of  the  70,000  exhibitors  over  20,000  received  prizes  of 
one  grade  or  another. 

The  labors  of  the  jurors  were  lightened  by  excursions  to 
various  points  of  interest.  These  were  upon  a  grand  scale. 
The  agricultural  and  food  jurors  were  more  fortunate  than 
some  others.  On  one  occasion  these  two  juries  were  taken 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  into  Bohemia,  to  visit  the 
great  estate  of  Ritter  Horsky,  of  Horskysfeld,  in  a  special 
train  traveling  by  night.  We  passed  a  marvelously  beauti- 
ful day  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  in  looking  over  an  estate 
of  5,000  acres,  one-half  under  cultivation,  the  rest  in  forest, 


60  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

employing  steam  appliances  of  every  approved  form,  and 
a  vast  variety  of  implements  of  original  device,  and  the  labor 
of  1,500  men  and  women.  The  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
for  thirty  miles  around  sent  their  carriages  to  conduct  the 
party  of  about  four  hundred  all  over  the  estate.  Here  was 
thorough  under-drainage,  here  were  trout  preserves,  and 
mills,  a  brewery  and  vineyard.  Every  farm  road  was  bord- 
ered in  fruit  trees.  Here  were  two  thousand  acres  of  beets 
in  cultivation  at  the  same  time  in  various  stages  of  progress, 
to  suit  the  delivery  of  roots  to  the  capacity  of  the  sugar 
mills.  At  evening  there  was  a  grand  dinner,  after  which 
there  were  speeches  in  Russian,  Swedish,  Czeckisch,  (the 
language  of  Bohemia),  German,  Hungarian,  French,  Italian, 
Spanish,  Portuguese,  Latin  and  English.  The  jury  returned 
at  night  to  Vienna  to  resume  their  work  after  an  interval  of 
two  nights  and  a  day. 

Another  excursion  was  made  to  Wittingan,  the  centre  of 
the  great  estates  of  Prince  Schwarzenberg  in  Bohemia, 
which  was  in  some  respects  more  interesting  than  the  excur- 
sion to  Ritter  Horsky's.  Here  were  fish  ponds  where  fish 
have  been  bred  for  sale  for  five  hundred  years,  where  the 
dykes,  thirty  feet  high,  are  overgrown  with  oaks  three  feet 
through,  and  where  250,000  florins  worth  of  fish  are  pro- 
duced and  sent  to  market  annually.  Here  were  separate 
dairies,  having  vast  numbers  of  beautiful  cows  in  stalls,  so 
gentle  and  warm,  and  sleepy  and  clean.  The  most  interest- 
ing feature  of  the  excursion,  next  to  the  charming  enter- 
tainment of  the  elder  and  younger  Prince,  and  the  wife  of 
the  latter,  was  perhaps,  the  performance  of  the  minstrel  at 
dinner,  where  for  an  hour  and  a  half  he  improvised  in  verse. 
Among  other  things  he  gave  was  an  account  of  our  visit, 
and  he  rehearsed  some  legends  of  the  family,  accompanied 
by  his  own  violin  and  the  refrain,  supported  by  a  clarionet 
and  bagpipe.  All  seemed  to  afford  infinite  amusement  to 
those  who  understood  Czeckisch.  One  story  was  of  the 
Prince  who  transgressed  his  own  law  that  no  one  should 
shoot  a  doe  on  the  estate.  On  a  hunt  one  day  by  accident 
or  oversight  he  shot  a  doe.  The  grief  and  consternation 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  6 1 

among  his  people  were  boundless — that  their  own  beloved 
prince  should  do  so  cruel  a  thing  and  break  his  own  law  ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  their  amazement  the  prince  fell  into  the 
water  and  came  near  being  drowned.  Whereupon  the 
crowd  of  peasants  plunged  in  to  his  rescue.  This  plunge, 
and  the  successful  restoration  of  the  prince  to  dry  land, 
arrested,  with  their  gratitude  for  his  deliverance,  their  cur- 
rent of  upbraiding,  and  they  were  all  made  happy  and 
contented.  This  relation  in  Czeckisch,  translated  by  the 
prince  to  two  American  ladies  to  whom  he  had  given  the 
honor  of  seats  on  either  side,  enabled  those  who  did  not 
understand  Czeckisch  to  share  the  infinite  amusement  of  the 
crowd  of  Bohemian  guests  at  the  table.  A  gentleman  at  my 
side  told  me  there  were  not  less  than  two  thousand  people's 
songs  in  the  Czeckisch  language.  The  princess  of  Schwarz- 
enberg  did  us  the  honor  to  take  a  seat  in  our  compartment 
on  an  excursion  to  see  one  of  the  great  fish  ponds.  She  called 
her  daughters  to  present  them  and  spoke  with  pride  of  her 
nine  children — two  of  whom,  lads  on  horseback,  came  down 
to  wave  their  adieus  on  the  departure  of  the  train.  She  told 
us  of  the  occupation  of  her  people  through  the  long  winter, 
their  little  festivities,  their  employment  in  making  baskets, 
bowls  and  wooden  pails,  their  poverty.  She  spoke  of  the 
anxiety  at  the  palace  when  they  learned  that  the  elder 
prince  had  invited  two  American  ladies  to  join  the  excur- 
sion, as  to  how  they  should  be  entertained.  She  supposed 
they  would  desire  to  hunt  on  horseback  through  the  fields 
and  forests,  and  I  am  half  inclined  to,'  think  she  rather 
regretted  that  she  had  not  an  opportunity  to  show  with  what 
skill  she  could  guide  the  movements  of  a  thorough-ibred 
over  the  plains  of  Bohemia.  It  would  be  ungracious  were  I 
not  to  say  that  I  do  not  remember  ever  before  to  have  seen 
so  much  of  loveliness,  grace  and  simplicity,  hearty  goodness 
and  sympathy,  combined  with  such  perfect  physical  health 
and  such  grand  beauty  as  I  saw  in  the  young  princess  of 
Schwarzenberg. 

Of  the  vast  extent  of  these  estates  in  Wittingan  you  may 
form  some  idea,  when  I    enumerate  some   of   the  manufac- 


62  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

turing  establishments  which  minister  to  the  wants  of  the 
eighty  thousand  people  on  the  prince's  domain  in  Bohemia. 
There  are  twenty-three  breweries,  as  many  saw  mills,  only 
one  distillery,  and  that  not  for  producing  whiskey,  seven 
iron  forges,  one  Bessemer  steel  works,  one  steam  bakery,  one 
oil  factory,  forty-six  tile  and  brick  kilns. 

Still  another  excursion  by  special  invitation  was  given  by 
the  imperial  direction,  over  the  Soemmering  Pass  into 
Ober-Steyermark,  upper  Styria.  The  grandeur  of  this  Alpine 
pass,  the  first,  I  think,  overcome  by  railroad,  is  familiar  to 
travelers  by  this  route  to  Trieste.  While  at  dinner  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  summit  of  Miirzzuschlag,  we  were  enter- 
tained of  course  with  speeches,  and  a  regimental  band,  and 
in  addition,  a  band  of  Tyrolese  or  Styrian  singers.  The 
occasion  was  every  way  enchanting.  By  invitation  we 
stopped  over  Sunday  on  our  return  at  Glognitz,  to  dine  with 
a  gentleman  who  had  greatly  to  do  with  our  comfort  at  the 
exposition,  Dr.  Arenstein,  the  vice-president  of  the  imperial 
direction.  He  had  been  educated  as  a  Capuchin.  He  took 
interest  from  an  early  period  in  the  industrial  development 
of  Austria.  On  one  occasion  of  an  annual  agricultural 
show,  he  was  elected  as  delegate.  His  superior  gave  him 
permission  for  the  day  to  lay  aside  his  gown.  The  exper- 
ience of  the  day  led  him  to  decline  ever  again  to  resume 
his  gown  or  his  priestly  functions.  He  is  now  married  to  a 
protestant  lady,  and  occupies  a  superb  chateau  near  an 
extensive  paper  manufactory  of  which  he  is  the  chief  pro- 
prietor. He  takes  the  warmest  interest  in  everything  con- 
nected with  the  now  astonishing  advance  of  Austria.  He 
particularly  desired  me  to  send  him  any  publications,  throw- 
ing light  on  methods  of  interesting  the  artizan  and  operat- 
tive  class  of  our  citizens,  in  the  way  of  lectures.  When  a 
millionaire  of  Austria,  hitherto  desired  to  do  the  public  a 
great  service,  he  opened  a  park  or  a  bathing  home,  or  a 
music  hall.  Perhaps  hereafter  he  may  find  pleasure  in  fol- 
lowing in  the  path  of  Lowell,  La\vrence,  Peabody,  or 
Cornell. 

When  I  spoke  on  one  occasion  of  the  munificent  but  fatal 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  63 

gift  to  our  dear  Agassiz  of  Penakese,  and  for  the  support 
of  a  zoological  museum,  my  auditor,  a  gentleman  of  high 
rank  in  the  government  of  Austria,  said,  "  It  is  America 
only  that  produces  Peabodys." 

There  was  a  memorable  excursion  made  at  the  close  of 
the  labors  of  the  jury.  All  the  jurors  who  had  not  left 
Vienna,  and  their  ladies,  numbering  in  all  about  five  hund- 
red, were  invited  by  the  authorities  of  Pesth  to  visit  that 
ancient  and  royal  city.  Two  steamboats  were  chartered  to 
take  us  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  down  the  Danube. 
We  left  at  seven  on  the  beautiful  morning  of  the  26th  of 
July.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  describe  the  scene,  where  all 
nationalities  were  gathered  on  the  decks  of  these  steamers, 
listening  alternately  to  the  weird  music  of  gypsy  bands  on 
board,  salutes  of  artillery  from  the  towns  on  the  banks,  from 
old  Presburg,  frowning  Comoran,  and  greetings  from 
Waizen,  and  from  a  hundred  other  towns  and  villages  gay 
with  brilliant  flags  of  welcome.  A  few  miles  above  Pesth 
we  were  met  by  a  steamer  crowded  with  gaily  dressed  people, 
and  shrouded  in  banners,  who  came  to  convey  us  to  our  land- 
ing. The  whole  city  seemed  to  be  on  the  wharfs.  The  Hun- 
garian magnates  in  their  incomparably  picturesque  costumes 
received  us,  and  we  were  conducted  to  the  several  hotels  to 
which  we  had  been  assigned,  but  not  to  rest.  In  half  an 
hour  the  guests  were  to  be  present  at  the  great  Redouten 
hall  to  sup  and  to  dance,  and  for  three  days  we  were  driven 
and  feasted  and  overwhelmed  with  attention  impossible  to 
picture.  The  palace,  the  zoological  gardens,  the  hot  baths 
and  swimming  school,  the  imperial  library,  the  picture 
gallery,  the  academy  of  sciences,  the  launching  of  a  ship, 
the  abattoir,  the  visit  to  the  Margarethin  Insel,  the  Marg- 
aret island,  where  the  royal  duke  has  built  a  bathing  house, 
and  constructed  cascades  and  fountains,  and  a  restaurant, 
and  laid  out  avenues  at  an  expense  of  7,000,000  florins,  all  a 
gift  to  the  people, — were  made  to  minister  to  our  entertain- 
ment. And  all  this  and  much  more  at  an  expense  of  forty- 
thousand  florins  to  Pesth,  but  not  a  farthing  to  the  guests. 
We  returned  by  rail  to  Vienna. 


64  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

I  made  still  other  excursions,  but  I  am  afraid  if  I  relate 
them  1  shall  compromise  my  character  as  a  commissioner, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  look  after  the  interests  of  our  exhibit- 
ors. Without  these  excursions  we  should  have  broken 
down.  They  gave  opportunity  for  the  representatives  of  the 
different  nationalities  to  know  each  other, — opportunities 
for  mutual  courtesies, — for  social  intercourse.  I  must  how- 
ever, refer  to  the  last  long  excursion  I  made.  It  was  made 
after  the  jury  work  was  over.  It  was  first  to  visit  an  old 
classmate  under  Leibig,  now  a  professor  in  the  University  at 
Gratz,  a  noted  city  on  the  line  of  railway  over  the  Soem- 
mering  to  Trieste.  It  is  a  University  town,  where,  because 
of  the  relative  cheapness  of  living,  and  its  picturesqueness 
and  seclusion,  numerous  old  army  officers  and  persons  of 
earlier  prominence  but  of  decayed  fortunes,  have  taken  up 
their  residence.  Here  a  retired  army  officer  had  busied 
himself  in  translating  one  of  the  beautiful  volumes  of  Prof. 
Longfellow.  You  are  shown  the  house  in  which  some  of 
the  Buonapartes  have  lived  in  exile,  where  the  late  Queen  of 
Spain  found  temporary  repose. .  One  of  the  most  prominent 
hotels  in  the  city  is  called  the  Hotel  zum  Elephanten — the 
Elephant  Hotel,  from  the  circumstance  that  two  hundred 
years  ago  the  first  elephant  that  ever  visited  Europe  was 
entertained  and  exhibited  there.  The  fact  is  commemor- 
ated by  a  huge  highly  colored  picture  of  an  elephant  on  the 
wall  of  the  court.  In  the  midst  of  the  city  rises  an  Acropo- 
lis some  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  crowned  with  the 
remains  of  an  old  fortress  which  the  Turks  often  beseiged — 
so  the  history  runs — but  never  captured.  On  the  same 
eminence  is  now  the  tower  with  its  bells  and  cannon 
ready  to  alarm  the  city  in  case  of  fire. 

While  wandering  around  the  streets  I  came  into  a  quarter 
where  all  over  the  pavement  and  sidewalks,  under  booths 
and  outside  of  them,  were  all  imaginable  household  relics 
on  sale  or  for  exchange.  It  was  a  market  day  of  odds  and 
ends.  Even  old  primers,  buttons,  cast-off  clothing  were 
not  wanting.  Two  or  three  of  the  articles  proved  more 
than  I  could  resist.  One  was  a  wooden  water  bottle  of 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  65 

Hungary,  another  a  hunting  bag  ornamented  with  the  skins 
of  young  chamois,  and  a  third  was  the  sword  of  an  official 
of  a  period  about  eighty  years  gone  by.  You  see  what  an 
easy  victim  you  may  be  to  circumstances.  When  Mr.  Bergh 
dies  he  will  be  canonized,  if  nowhere  else,  certainly  in  the 
city  of  Gratz.  In  this  old  town  are  numerous  charities 
providing  for  the  feeding  of  birds  through  the  winter. 

On  my  return  I  stopped  to  visit  a  somewhat  renowned 
land's  poet  Father  Schmelzer,  whose  acquaintance  I  had 
made  when  the  excursion  given  by  the  imperial  direction 
brought  us  over  the  Soemmering,  to  Miirzzuschlag.  He 
lived  at  the  old  castle  of  Ober-Kindberg,  and  was  the  agent 
of  his  cousin,  a  Count  Lombody,  now  residing  at  Gratz.  I 
had  provided  a  large  box  of  our  canned  meats  and  fruits 
from  the  American  department  of  the  exposition,  and  thefse 
comprising  some  twelve  varieties  were  made  the  basis  of  a 
dinner  given  to  our  friend  and  his  family  at  the  little  inn, 
the  Wolf  bauer  in  Kindberg.  It  was  interesting  to  observe 
the  party  of  four  ladies  and  as  many  gentlemen,  beside  the 
American  party  testing  the  clams,  succotash,  green  corn, 
peas,  beans,  lobster,  preserved  pears,  peaches,  and  so  forth, 
in  this  little  old  inn  in  an  open  garden,  from  eight  to  eleven 
o'clock  of  a  summer's  evening,  followed  up  as  it  was  with 
numerous  kindly  toasts  and  speeches,  and  at  a  later  hour 
with  a  Styrian  serenade.  I  regret  to  add  that  I  learned  the 
next  morning  that  our  excellent  friends  who  loyally  ate  of 
every  dish,  were  not  wholly  of  the  conviction  that  such  a 
miscellaneous  collection  of  food  was  suited  to  all  times  and 
places.  The  next  day,  after  a  visit  to  the  collections  and 
grounds  of  the  castle,  and  a  foot  excursion  to  the  summit  of 
a  neighboring  mountain  commanding  most  beautiful  views 
up  and  down  the  valley  of  the  Meir,  we  returned  to  a  din- 
ner given  by  our  friends,  of  wholly  Steyermark  dishes, 
including  a  bit  of  vension,  which  with  a  chamois  had  been 
shot  the  day  before.  Those  of  you  who  have  read  that 
most  healthy  and  charming  of  novels  "  Quits,"  will  remem- 
ber the  schmarn  which  Nora's  cousin  Jack  relished  so 
keenly.  This  was  one  of  the  dishes.  It  seemed  to  me  to 
9 


66  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

be  a  kind  of  previously  boiled  hominy,  thoroughly  roasted 
and  served  with  an  adequate  measure  of  butter,  but  what  it 
really  was  I  did  not  learn.  The  dinner  was  closed  with 
songs,  coffee  and  cigars,  in  all  of  which  our  lady  friends 
from  Ober  Kindberg  took  part,  employing  the  cigar  holders 
brought  down  by  one  of  the  Ober  Kindberg  party,  an  under 
officer  of  the  war  department  at  Vienna,  who  told  us  they 
were  made  by  himself  of  the  paper  and  quills  paid  for  from 
the  Imperial  exchequer.  The  songs  had  several  of  them 
been  composed  as  well  as  the  music,  by  our  old  friend 
Father  Schmelzer,  who  is  the  Hans  Sachs  of  Ober  Steyer- 
mark,  a  man  of  great  goodness  and  gentleness,  to  whom  the 
respect  and  deference  shown  by  the  people  of  the  town, 
were  something  beautiful  to  see.  When  we  parted  late  at 
night  he  did  me  the  honor  to  kiss  me  repeatedly,  after  the 
style  of  the  country,  and  to  give  us  his  benediction.  From 
this  unique  and  altogether  charming  experience,  we  went  to 
Castle  Nikilz,  near  Oedenburg,  Hungary,  one  of  the  coun- 
try seats  of  Earl  Zichy,  who  was  the  president  of  my  jury 
on  food  at  the  Exposition. 

Here  we  were  introduced  to  a  chapter  in  medieval  life, 
surpassing  in  interest  almost  everything  we  had  seen  before. 
Here  was  a  family  that  for  centuries  had  been  one  of  the 
leading  families  of  Hungary.  Since  the  execution  of  Cas- 
simer  Zichy,  the  brother  of  the  Earl,  in  the  Kossuth  times 
of  '48,  our  host  had  eschewed  politics  and  was  devoted  to 
education,  to  railways  and  to  agriculture.  Here  was  the 
little  old  Catholic  chapel  in  which  were  services  every 
morning  for  the  inmates  of  the  castle.  Here  was  a  dining 
hall  hung  round  with  swords  and  guns,  and  pikes  and 
spears,  and  hundreds  of  antlers,  all  the  latter,  trophies  of 
the  Earl's  individual  share  in  the  chase.  Here  were  quan- 
tities of  rare  objects  of  art  of  great  antiquity,  portraits  of 
the  members  of  the  family  that  had  intermarried  with  the 
Esterhazy's,  the  Liechtensteins,  and  other  princely  and  re- 
nowned families  in  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Bohemia.  Here 
was  an  organized  household,  as  it  was  centuries  ago,  except 
that  the  serfs  had  quietly  and  gracefully  and  in  perfect  har- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  67 

mony  of  relationship  passed  over  to  become  freemen.  One 
morning  the  Countess  took  us  to  see  her  dairy,  where  she 
superintended  the  cheese  and  butter,  and  her  collection  of 
preserves.  She  took  us  to  see  where  the  bees  were  housed, 
that  their  honey  could  be  easily  removed  without  danger, 
and  where  the  hens  and  turkeys,  peacocks  and  guinea  hens 
were  cared  for.  Each  setting  hen  sat  in  a  little  basket 
cradle  with  a  sort  of  chaise-top  hood  from  which  she 
looked  out  with  becoming  dignity  and  satisfaction  over 
quite  an  area  of  covered  promenade.  She  took  us  to  her 
stables,  where  were  carriages,  horses  and  harnesses,  riding 
horses  and  saddles,  and  hunting  horses  and  costumes.  We 
drove  to  a  hunting  lodge  several  miles  away,  starting  up 
deer  in  the  woods  as  we  passed,  and  learning  of  a  curious 
fact  that  there  seemed  to  be  a  murrain  among  these  graceful 
creatures,  as  frequently  of  late,  the  bodies  of  deer  that  had 
evidently  died  of  sickness  were  found  scattered  about  the 
forest.  The  village  near  the  castle  was  a  village  of  Croats — 
not  a  Hungarian  among  them,  every  house  the  copy  of 
every  other.  Two  or  three  miles  away  was  a  village  exclus- 
ively Hungarian,  each  house  distinct  in  arrangement  from 
the  Croatian,  and  all  among  themselves  of  a  common  pat- 
tern. As  far  in  an  another  direction  was  a  village  exclus- 
ively German,  not  a  Hungarian  or  Croat  among  them,  and 
their  houses  again  unique.  The  young  men  and  maidens 
of  each  community  marry  among  their  own  people,  but 
never  in  either  of  the  other  communities.  Each  community 
preserves  its  national  language.  Outside  of  one  of  the 
villages  we  encountered  an  encampment  of  gypsies,  some  of 
whom  like  deer  for  swiftness  and  wildness  of  look,  pursued 
us  till  they  won  a  gratuity  from  the  carriage.  When  we 
were  ready  to  leave,  and  the  trunks,  which  were  of  the  kind 
furnished  with  india  rubber  knobs  at  the  corners,  were 
brought  out,  the  Earl  called  the  family  together,  as  he  said, 
to  see  how  Americans  traveled,  These  Hungarian  people 
are  in  many  respects  quite  by  themselves.  You  see  a  land 
of  proprietors  and  of  laborers,  in  which  the  proprietors  are 
as  a  general  rule  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  labor- 


68  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

ers,  and  in  which  the  laborers  have  as  much  pride  and  self- 
respect  and  as  well  defined  privileges  as  the  nobleman 
whose  estates  they  work. 

But  I  must  stop.  I  cannot  tell  you  of  an  Imperial  recep- 
tion at  Schonbrunn  and  the  Burg  in  Vienna,  or  the  delight- 
ful weekly  receptions  on  behalf  of  the  Emperor,  at  the 
residence  of  Baron  von  Zagern,  or  the  visit  to  Klosterneu- 
burg,  or  to  Voslau,  Baden,  Modling  and  the  Bruhl. 

After  this  sketch  of  an  experience  somewhat  unusual,  you 
will  naturally  ask  what  impression  was  left  upon  me  as  to 
the  relative  place  held  by  these  people  in  the  best  civiliza- 
tion. We  were  enchanted  with  Hungary.  The  fascination 
of  the  hospitable,  cordial,  enthusiastic,  handsome  people, 
was  something  rare  to  experience.  The  transition  from 
serfdom  to  freedom  has  been  so  wisely  conducted  that  you 
may  see  all  the  grace  and  charm  of  feudal  times,  mingling 
in  perfect  harmony  with  the  new  order  of  things.  The 
Austrian  court  is  recognized  as  the  most  refined  in  the 
world.  Doubtless  each  people  has  characteristics  that  fav- 
orably distinguish  it  from  all  others,  and  possibly  an  Ameri- 
can might  be  unable  to  give  absolute  precedence  over  all  to 
any  one  people.  I  asked  the  question  one  day  of  one  of 
my  colleagues  from  Berlin,  as  to  which  European  state 
stood  first  in  general  culture.  His  reply  surprised  me.  It 
was,  "Bohemia,  beyond  all  question."  On  the  whole,  from 
the  little  I  saw,  I  think  I  should  acquiesce  in  this  judgment. 
It  was  in  Bohemia  that  Baron  Horsky's  estates  are  situated, 
which  probably  present  the  finest  farming  in  the  world — 
finest  as  an  exhibition  of  the  application  of  science  to  the 
various  branches  of  the  art  of  agriculture,  and  most  satis- 
factory as  an  exhibition  of  financial  success.  One  is  a  little 
blinded  on  such  excursions  as  were  made  by  the  jurors,  and 
probably  no  trustworthy  opinion  can  be  formed  at  such 
times.  Baron  Horsky  was  an  excellent  illustration  of  the 
advantages  of  a  thorough  technical  education  applied  to 
farming.  He  had  indeed  nothing  for  the  foundation  of  his 
career  and  fortune,  except  the  training  of  a  Bohemian  boy. 
Most  of  us  know  little  about  Bohemia,  except  that  in  ele- 


HENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  69 

gant  and  fancy  glass-ware  it  has  from  our  earliest  recollec- 
tion maintained  its  ascendancy  over  the  rest  of  the  world. 
We  might  presume  that  in  a  country  whose  claims  to  such 
high  position  are  conceded  by  neighboring  states  at  the  out- 
set, that  we  should  find  deference  to  age,  ready  recognition 
of  worth,  respect  for  steady  industry,  high  average  of  gen- 
eral health,  and  organization  of  labor  in  all  its  departments. 
These  you  do  find. 

An  American  lady,  who  had  been  passing  the  summer  in 
a  Bohemian  village,  returned  in  the  same  steamer  with  my- 
self. In  conversing  about  the  characteristics  of  the  people, 
which  she  enumerated  with  great  particularity,  and  express- 
ing herself  surprised  at  the  contrast  they  presented  to  the 
characteristics  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  on  either  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  she  closed  with  the  remark,  "And  we  talk  of  send- 
ing missionaries  to  Bohemia. 

As  for  myself,  I  can  speak  best  of  their  illustrations  for 
object  teaching  which  were  seen  in  the  department  of  Edu- 
cation at  the  World's  Exposition.  The  Bohemian  geologi- 
cal and  topographical  work  took  precedence  over  all  others, 
in  originality  of  design,  in  elegance  and  finish.  It  occurred 
to  me  that  there  must  have  been  completed  for  Bohemia 
what  the  Ordnance  survey  has  commenced  for  England, 
—with  this  difference  in  favor  of  Bohemia,  as  I  gathered, 
that  for  the  individual  schools  in  each  district  there  are 
models  and  collections  marvelously  detailed,  which  could 
only  have  been  perfected  by  the  pupils  of  the  whole  schools 
uniting  in  the  work.  It  was  as  if  one  class  in  the  Rensse- 
laer  Institute  should  devote  its  Saturdays  and  its  vacations, 
for  the  years  of  its  undergraduate  life,  to  producing  a  model 
of  the  trough  of  the  Hudson,  embracing  the  region  of  Co- 
hoes  on  the  North,  and  extending  to  and  including  the 
Wynantskill  on  the  south.  The  model  should  display  the 
rocks  below  and  above,  the  soils,  the  forest  trees,  the 
swamps,  the  ponds,  lakes,  springs,  streams  and  water  power, 
roads,  bridges,  and  sites  of  factories.  What  a  model  might 
be  made !  Another  class  might  take  the  botany,  and  an- 
other the  zoology;  another  the  manufacturing  industries. 


70  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Besides  this,  individuals  might*take  specialties,  being  care- 
ful to  make  the  field  sufficiently  narrow  to  accomplish  some- 
thing. For  example,  one  might  devote  his  whole  labor  to 
the  habits  of  a  particular  enemy  of  the  apple,  and  present 
actual  specimens  of  the  insect  in  all  stages  of  its  develop- 
ment, and  then  larger  models  for  use  in  teaching.  But  I 
had  almost  forgotten  that  this  was  the  very  plan  encouraged 
by  Prof.  Eaton,  our  early  master.  It  was  in  following  a 
kindred  suggestion  that  the  schools  of  some  of  the  States 
of  the  old  world  have,  I  suppose,  without  large  grants  of 
governmental  aid,  placed  their  schools  in  the  foremost  rank. 
It  was  by  the  evolution  of  this  system,  the  germs  of  which 
were  planted  by  Prof.  Eaton,  that  there  has  grown  the 
stately  Institute  which  is  our  pride  and  glory  to-day.  May 
it  not  be  by  prosecuting  the  same  original  plan,  that  you 
may  not  only  maintain  your  present  ascendancy,  but  con- 
tinue to  keep  the  lead  in  your  particular  field,  in  the  West- 
ern world. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


ADDRESS  BY  HENRY  SEDLEY,  ESQ., 

OF  NEW  YORK. 


1848. 


When  Lord  Macauley  spoke  in  favor  of  removing  the  civil 
disabilities  of  the  Jews,  he  reminded  the  house  of  com- 
mons of  a  certain  saying  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh:  This 
saying  was  uttered  in  the  same  chamber,  and  was  to  the 
effect  that  the  strength  of  the  case  of  the  Jews  was  a  serious 
inconvenience  to  their  advocate  ;  since  it  was  hardly  possi- 
ble to  make  a  speech  for  them  without  wearying  the 
audience  by  repeating  truths  which  were  universally 
admitted.  It  is  much  the  same,  1  think,  with  the  case  of  the 
Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute.  Its  good  wine  needs  no 
bush  of  flowering  advertisements  or  of  complimentary 
rhetoric.  Fifty  years  of  use  have  proved  its  quality  and 
tested  its  effects.  Through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land  its  name  is  "  great  in  mouths  of  wisest  censure  ;"  and, 
least  of  all,  in  the  beautiful  city  which  for  half  a  century 
has  honored  the  Institute,  and  been  honored  by  it,  are 
needed  words  thus  manifestly  shown  to  be  of  superfluous 
eulogy.  Still,  just  as  on  festal  occasions,  ornaments  are 
permissible  that  would  be  in  bad  taste  for  everyday  wear, 
the  garlands  and  trappings  of  praise  may  be  forgiven  per- 
haps, on  an  occasion  like  this  ;  an  occasion  that  must  always 
be  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  Institute  ;  an  occasion 
that  marks  the  rounding  of  a  systematical  epoch  in  the 
record  of  her  usefulness  and  in  her  fame.  And,  if  the 
children  of  a  cherished  mother  may  thus  be  indulged,  for 
once,  in  decking  her  austere  front  in  holiday  attire,  the 
egotism  of  personal  reminiscence  may  be  pardoned,  he 


72  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

trusts,  in  one  of  those  children^  illustrating  as  it  does,  the 
material  teachings  and  example  wherewith  he  was  sent  forth 
to  buffet  with  the  world. 

I  ask  leave,  then,  to  narrate  to  you  some  cursory  personal 
adventures  of  a  young  graduate  immediately  on  leaving  the 
Institute  many  years  ago,  and  which  happened  to  be  cast  in 
that  romantic  land  of  gold,  which  has  since  filled  so  large  a 
space  in  the  eyes  of  our  own  country,  and  indeed  of  the 
whole  world.  Few  here  need  to  be  told  that  in  those  days 
the  course  of  study  at  the  Institute  was  much  less  extended 
than  it  now  is.  I  do  not  believe  that,  so  far  as  it  went,  it 
was  less  thorough.  But  it  was  completed  in  less  time,  and 
youths  were  admitted -at  an  earlier  age;  so  that  occasionally, 
as  in  my  own  case,  the  course  was  finished  and  the  diploma 
gained  before  it  could  legally  be  bestowed.  Thus  it 
happened  that  I  first  saw  the  Golden  Gate  at  an  age  when 
most  lads  are  pursuing  their  studies ;  a  circumstance  that 
has  interest  only  as  showing  that  in  spite  of  a  liberal  allow- 
ance of  the  crudeness,  presumption  and  experience  of  boy- 
hood, I  was  able,  thanks  to  what  the  Institute  had  done  for 
me,  not  only  to  fight  my  way,  but  to  turn  a  very  pretty 
penny  in  a  short  time  by  the  operation. 

And  this  exemplifies  the  point  to  which  I  venture  espec- 
ially to  direct  attention,  which  is,  the  exceptionally  practical 
character  of  the  Institute's  training.  In  doing  so,  I  must  be 
allowed  to  disregard  both  the  obvious  imputation  and  the 
natural  promptings  of  vanity,  and  say  at  once  that  my 
mental  qualities  as  an  engineer,  were  certainly  no  more  than 
mediocre,  while  I  had  positive  physical  disqualifications. 
Barring  some  share  of  resolution  and  industry,  then  the  little 
I  achieved  was  entirely  due  to  the  Institute.  Thrown  abso- 
lutely upon  my  own  resources,  without  guardian  or  respon- 
sible adviser,  being  I  should  add  without  capital,  save  my 
moderate  fund  of  knowledge  and  a  few  engineering  instru- 
ments, my  case,  fresh  from  the  Institute  as  I  was,  afforded  a 
pretty  good,  and  certainly,  tolerably  severe  test  of  its  merits. 

Well,  facts  and  figures  are  now  greatly  in  vogue,  and  I  am 
going  to  tell  you  exactly  what  I  did.  In  my  first  four 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  73 

months  in  California,  I  cleared  by  professional  work,  over 
and  above  expenses,  about  one  thousand  dollars  a  month. 
This  was  in  gold,  and  it  is  fair  to  remember  that  the  worker 
was  barely  eighteen  years  of  age.  I  am  quite  convinced 
that,  but  for  what  he  learned  at  the  Institute,  he  would  not 
have  gained  a  tenth  of  the  sum  named.  Circumstances 
were  undoubtedly  favorable.  There  were  then  but  few  on 
the  Pacific  coast  who  could  perform  the  simplest  operations 
of  engineering.  A  good  share  of  city  work  was  attainable, 
including  the  location  of  some  of  the  minor  streets  and 
wharves  ;  and  there  was  suburban  surveying  and  miscel- 
laneous labor  which,  added  to  the  rest,  had  the  young  gradu- 
ate possessed  the  steadiness  or  continuity  of  purpose  which 
not  even  the  Institute  could  teach  him,  might  easily  have 
brought  him  fortune  five  times  over.  The  force  of  the 
intended  illustration  is  not  nevertheless,  weakened  by  this. 
I  do  not  think  there  was  any  member  of  my  class  who,  in 
the  same  circumstances,  would  not  have  done  as  well  as  I 
did  ;  and  am  sure  there  were  some  who  would  have  done 
better ;  so  that  I  trust  a  substantial  demonstration  has  been 
furnished  of  the  practical  advantages  of  the  Institute  and  a 
right  established  to  inscribe  after  it  "  Quod  erat  demon- 
strandum." 

San  Francisco  in  those  days,  was  a  bewildering,  not  to 
say  a  distracting  city.  Its  most  striking  characteristic  was 
its  strangeness.  You  felt  that,  to  every  one  you  met  in  the 
streets,  it  was  as  strange  as  to  you.  There  was  nothing  like 
it,  had  never  been  anything  like  it.  Each  new  comer  might 
fitly  say — 

"  Then  felt  I  like  some  watcher  of  the  skies 

When  a  new  planet  swims  into  his  ken  ; 

Or  like  stout  Cortez  when  with  eagle  eyes 

He  stared  at  the  Pacific,  and  his  men 

Looked  at  each  other  with  a  mild  surmise, 

Silent  upon  a  peak  in  Darien." 

There  was,  to  be  sure,  no  silence  and  little  contemplation 

in  the  golden  city  ;  but  every  one  seemed   in   as  chronic   a 

state  of  amazement  as  the  Spanish  freebooter ;  and,  as  with 

him,  there  mingled  with  the  astonishment  the  insatiate  thirst 

10 


74  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

for  gain.  In  the  rush  for  it  almost  everybody  was  engaged 
in  some  unwonted  and  anomalous  employment.  There  were 
clergymen  doing  the  work  of  porters,  and  a  college  profes- 
sor was  waiter  in  a  restaurant.  Ladies  by  birth  and  culture 
took  in  washing,  and  young  gentlemen  of  social  distinction 
at  home,  peddled  cigars  and  matches.  These  constant 
incongruities  gave  rise  to  a  perversive  air  of  burlesque  or 
masquerade,  which  heightened  the  novelty  of  the  situation. 
Vast  saloons,  open  to  the  street,  in  which  public  gambling 
was  going  on  day  and  night,  the  perpetual  music  of  bands, 
the  brisk  chatter  of  a  dozen  different  tongues,  the  diverse 
costumes  of  as  many  nationalities,  lent  to  the  scene  wonder- 
ful vivacity  and  bustle  ;  while  blending  with  dapper  new 
comers  by  ocean  steamers,  people  who  often  possessed 
nothing  but  the  clothes  they  stood  in,  came  figures  fresh 
from  the  mines,  red-shirted,  booted  and  hirsute,  heavy  laden 
with  bowie  knives  and  revolvers,  with  fierce  faces  shaded  by 
Spanish  hats,  fit  in  a  word  to  be  painted  by  Salvator  or 
Murrillo,  and  frequently  owning  gold  to  the  value  of  tens  of 
thousands,  "dug  from  the  bowels  of  the  harmless  earth," 
on  the  Sacramento  or  Tuolumne. 

Within  six  weeks  of  our  arrival  the  "  confusion  "  was 
rendered  "  worse  confounded."  There  came  what  proved 
at  once  San  Francisco's  greatest  curse  and  greatest  blessing 
— a  prodigious  fire.  A  day  or  two  before  we  got  in,  there 
had  been  another.  Nearly  the  whole  place  had  gone  down 
before  the  fiery  tempest,  and  as  we  sailed  up  the  bay  our 
eager  eyes — weary  with  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  days 
of  our  passage  round  Cape  Horn — fell  on  hundreds  of  tents 
whereof  the  burned  out  people  had  improvised  habitations. 

Six  weeks,  however,  had  been  ample  time  to  build  the 
prostrate  city  up  again ;  and  this  time,  albeit  somewhat  of 
the  ginger-bread  order,  there  was  no  little  attempt  at  archi- 
tectural display.  The  facades  of  some  of  the  gambling 
hells  and  tippling  shops  were  quite  gorgeous — as  became 
such  profitable  establishments — and  there  were  other  edi- 
fices of  almost  equal  pomp  and  splendor.  Nearly  all  the 
structures  however  were  of  the  flimsiest  description — lathe 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


75 


and  plaster,  chiefly,  although  there  were  here  and  there 
buildings  of  the  native  adobe,  or  sun-dried  brick,  and  a  very 
few  eastern  brick  warehouses,  in  one  of  which  I  slept  on  the 
morning  of  the  fire. 

On  the  whole,  the  city  looked  quite  imposing;  and 
remembering  its  aspect  on  the  day  of  our  arrival,  there  was 
something  marvellously  suggestive  of  Aladdin's  palace  in 
the  change.  The  swiftness,  however,  with  which  the  new 
city  went  up,  was  nothing  to  the  magical  rapidity  with 
which  it  came  down.  To  many  the  catastrophe  was  ruin,  and 
to  me  it  seemed  scarcely  less,  since  it  involved  the  loss  of  a 
transit.  Not,  I  need  scarcely  say,  the  transit  of  Venus. 
To  me,  at  that  time,  it  was  one  of  much  more  importance. 
It  came  from  Troy,  too,  and  was  made  by  Phelps  &  Gurley. 
It  was  just  daylight  on  a  hot  morning  in  June,  and  a  dozen 
of  us  were  sleeping  on  the  third  floor  of  a  brick  warehouse 
just  erected  by  a  relative  of  mine  for  business  purposes. 
This  gentleman — who  accepted  misfortune,  either  for  him- 
self or  neighbor  with  a  sportive  equanimity  wondrous  to 
behold — happened  to  be  first  stirring.  I  think  I  was  next 
awake,  for  I  remember  my  attention  being  attracted  to  the 
fact  that  my  relative  was  busy  at  a  box  of  mine,  and  that  in 
truth  he  was  arraying  himself  in  a  suit  of  my  garments 
which  happened  to  strike  his  fancy.  Presently  he  went  to  a 
window  and  looked  out,  and,  after  a  moment's  deliberate 
consideration,  observed  affably,  that  if  we  wanted  to  get  out 
alive,  we  might  wisely  bestir  ourselves  to  that  end  without 
delay  ;  since  the  street  above  us  was  in  a  light  blaze  and  the 
flames  would  be  upon  us  in  a  very  few  moments.  No 
second  hint  was  required  it  may  well  be  believed.  Quicker 
time  was  probably  made  by  that  company  in  dressing  than 
any  member  of  it  had  ever  made  before.  In  the  safe, 
below,  there  was  a  large  sum — a  great  many  thousands — in 
gold  dust  and  coin,  besides  valuable  papers.  To  get  the 
safe  out  of  the  building  was  the  most  important,  and  to  this 
task  all  present  vigorously  devoted  themselves.  It  was 
done,  but  by  the  time  the  heavy  iron  box  was  rolled  into 
the  street,  burning  fragments  were  falling  all  over  us,  and 


76  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

% 

the  warehouse  was  one  vast  sheet  of  flame.  Only  then  did 
some  one  remember  that  a  huge  pipe  stood  close  by  the 
door  filled  with  canisters  of  gunpowder.  This  dangerous 
neighbor  was  canted  over  and  rolled  into  the  bay. 

Probably  among  the  many  narrow  escapes  in  the  San 
Francisco  fires,  none  was  closer  to  the  "  dangerous  edge  of 
things  "  than  this.  Our  lives  were  all  safe,  but  my  transit 
— the  only  one  I  thought  then  in  California,  was  gone.  No 
time  was  left  to  rescue  it  from  the  burning  building,  and  so 
with  many  valued  note  books  which  had  been  kept  at  the 
Institute,  a  respectable  engineering  library,  and  many 
draughting  and  other  instruments,  it  was  crammed  into  the 
hungry  maw  of  the  conflagration.  In  fact  we  had  much 
ado  to  save  ourselves.  To  go  toward  the  flames  or  inland 
was  impossible.  But  to  fly  straight  away  from  them,  as  we 
were  situated,  had  become  equally  so.  For  the  streets 
themselves  being  of  plank  were  now  all  on  fire  in  that 
direction,  and  the  only  safety  seemed  in  the  bay.  Two 
paths  of  escape  had  been  open  to  us  when  we  fell  to  work 
on  the  safe ;  but  now  both  were  cut  off. 

A  story  of  a  certain  colored  preacher  in  Virginia  is  so 
apposite  here,  that  its  citation  may  be  excused.  "  Dar  am 
but  de  two  roads,"  he  declared,  "  one  am  de  broad  and 
narrer  road  dat  leadeth  to  perdishun ;  de  oder  am  de  narrer 
and  de  broad  road  dat  leadeth  to  eternal  destruction." 
"  What's  dat  ?"  cried  one  of  his  hearers  apprehensively. 
"Say  dat  again!"  "  De  one  am  de  broad  and  narrer  road 
dat  leadeth  to  perdishun  ;  de  oder  am  de  narrer  and  de 
broad  road  dat  leadeth  to  destruction."  "If  dat  am  de 
case,"  said  the  other,  "  dis  nigger  takes  to  de  woods." 
These  niggers  took  to  the  wharves  ;  and,  not  until  the  one 
on  which  we  had  sought  refuge  had  been  cut  away  from  the 
town  with  axes,  were  we  really  in  a  position  of  compara- 
tive safety.  Even  then  constant  vigilance  was  needful  to 
keep  the  showers  of  sparks  and  blazing  fragments,  borne  on 
a  heavy  gale  of  wind,  from  igniting  the  wharf ;  and  night 
was  fast  coming  on  while  we  were  still  huddled  on  the  end 
of  the  structure,  blackened  and  begrimed  from  head  to  foot, 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


77 


and  our  clothes  literally  in  rags,  while  the  storm  of  fire  still 
swept  furiously  on,  and  heavy  explosions  told  from  time  to 
time  how  the  firemen  were  vainly  struggling,  by  blowing  up 
buildings,  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  flames. 

California  is  the  country  of  countries,  according  to  my 
experience,  for  making  the  best  of  a  bad  situation.  Per- 
haps no  more  wretched  plight  could  be  conceived  than  that 
of  the  refugees  on  the  wharf.  All  their  personal  property 
destroyed,  their  clothes  in  tatters,  without  food  or  drink, 
without  money,  and  with  nothing  within  reach  to  buy,  even 
had  they  the  means  to  purchase,  their  situation  was  doleful 
indeed.  Yet  comfort  was  at  hand  even  here ;  and  I  have 
never  ceased  to  recur  to  that  time,  when  things  around  me 
have  looked  unusually  dark  and  forbidding.  On  the  end  of 
the  wharf  were  several  sheds  or  low  shanties  which  were 
barred  or  padlocked.  One  of  our  party,  for  the  purpose  of 
washing,  descended  by  a  boat  ladder  to  the  sea,  and  thus 
discovered  a  way  of  getting  into  these  buildings  from  below. 
This  was  soon  availed  of,  and  there  were  found  a  great 
stock  of  ready  made  garments,  boots,  hats,  in  short  all 
things  requisite  for  a  gentleman's  wardrobe. 

In  a  trice,  after  preliminary  ablutions  in  the  bay,  the 
whole  company  were  freshly  attired  from  head  to  foot,  the 
owner,  I  need  hardly  say,  being  compensated  on  his  own 
terms  afterward.  Subsequently,  in  an  adjoining  building, 
cans  of  preserved  meat,  and  baskets  of  claret  and  cham- 
pagne were  discovered,  so  that  the  inner  man  of  the 
refugees  was  soon  as  well  cared  for  as  the  outer.  I  chanced 
on  a  snug  bench  and  slept  for  two  or  three  hours  with  infin- 
ite satisfaction.  On  awakening,  I  found  the  sky  pitchy 
dark.  A  noise  came  from  the  hovel  nearest  the  bay,  which 
had  a  second  story  and  a  glazed  window.  A  light  streamed 
from  within,  and  amid  the  dull  roar  of  the  conflagration 
were  heard  sounds  of  revelry.  The  city  on  one  side  was  a 
seething  mass  of  fire ;  the  sea,  on  the  other,  like  the  sky 
was  of  inky  blackness.  I  got  three  barrels,  and  putting  a 
board  across  two  of  them,  perched  the  third  on  the  platform 
thus  made,  and  climbing  to  the  top,  looked  in  at  the  window. 


78  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

Five  or  six  men  were  within  playing  cards,  by  the  light  of 
candles  stuck   in   empty   champagne  bottles,   and   regaling 
themselves  at  intervals  from  full  ones.     Nero  playing  the 
fiddle   while    Rome    burned    was    the    only    parallel    to    it. 
Probably,  nearly  every  man  there  was  "  ruined  "  by  the  fire 
for   the   half-dozenth   time.       But   what   cared   they  ?      No 
Frenchman  was  ever  more  ready  than  those  early  Californ- 
ians  to  say  "vive  la  bagatelle."     What  must  be,  must  be,  and 
there  was  no  use  in  crying  over  spilt  milk.     In  the  morning 
the  flourishing  city  was  a  mere  blackened  waste.     It   had 
melted,    in    the    words    of   a   hackneyed,    but    appropriate 
passage  "  into  thin  air,"  and  with  Prospero  we  might  say: 
"  And  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  this  vision 
The  cloud  capped  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve, 
And,  like  this  unsubstantial  pageant  faded 
Leave  not  a  wreck  behind." 

The  difference  being  that,  in  six  weeks  more,  San  Francisco 
was  built  again.  Moreover,  there  were  a  great  many 
"  wrecks  "  in  the  shape  of  innumerable  packages  of  mer- 
chandise, which  were  scattered  about  over  the  burnt  district, 
as  if  they  had  been  tossed  on  a  sable  shore  by  an  angry  sea. 
An  auction  sale  had  been  advertised  to  take  place  in  our 
building  within  three  days  of  the  fire.  It  might  be  sup- 
posed that  this  was  of  necessity  postponed  ;  but  no  one 
would  suppose  so  who  knew  the  resources  and  indefatigable 
pluck  of  those  early  pioneers.  Within  those  three  days  a 
large  warehouse,  built  of  bamboo  and  China  mattings  on 
the  site  of  the  old  one,  "  rose  like  an  exhalation."  Nor 
were  there  lacking  materials  for  the  sale.  The  other  day  a 
representative  American,  of  the  nil  admirari  kind,  happened 
to  be  in  London,  and  was  taken  to  the  British  museum. 
The  place  is  now  a  perfect  wonder-house  of  ancient  and 
modern  scientific  and  artistic  curiosities.  "  Well,"  said  our 
countryman  to  his  companions,  scratching  his  head,  "  We've 
got  all  these  things  in  the  States;  only  they're  kind  o'  scat- 
tered round."  And  so  it  was  with  the  articles  for  the 
auction  sale  ;  they  were  all  there,  only  they  were  "  kind  o' 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


79 


scattered  round."     Unfortunately  my  transit  was  not  of  the 
number. 

On  our  way  to  the  golden  city  we  had  touched  at  the 
accepted  home  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  the  island  of  Juan 
Fernandez,  a  most  picturesque  and  romantic  spot,  as  the 
few  who  have  seen  it  can  testify.  Such  a  visit  was  not  to 
be  forgotten,  but  I  was  especially  reminded  of  it,  not  long 
after,  by  an  impressive  incident.  Perhaps  there  is  no  more 
thrilling  moment  in  the  history  of  Robinson  Crusoe  than  that 
in  which  he  discovers  the  famous  foot-print  on  the  shore.  I 
am  certain  that  there  was  no  more  thrilling  moment  in  my 
experience  in  California  than  that  in  which  Friday's  foot- 
print was  brought  most  vividly  to  my  mind.  It  was  soon 
after  the  fire,  and  I  had  gone  down  to  the  beautiful  region 
of  Santa  Clara,  which  was  then,  comparatively  speaking, 
uninhabited.  I  was  running  lines,  to  locate  certain  land 
claims,  and,  having  been  on  a  previous  day  in  a  woody 
valley,  miles  from  any  dwelling,  had  agreed  to  meet  my 
party,  (we  having  separated  at  night  to  go  in  different 
directions,)  at  a  given  hour  on  the  same  spot.  I  was  earlier 
than  my  appointment,  and  reached  a  monument  of  stones 
set  up  at  a  station  covered  by  the  compass  the  day  before. 
All  of  a  sudden  I  saw  a  foot-print.  It  was  larger  than 
Friday's  or  that  of  any  of  his  tribe.  I  soon  saw  many 
others,  indicating  that  the  owner  of  the  feet  which  made 
them,  had  been  curiously  inspecting  our  engineer's  work, 
perhaps  with  a  view  of  taking  a  hand  in  it.  It  cost  not 
much  reflection  to  persuade  me  that  I  was  on  the  track  of  a 
huge  grizzly  bear,  or  that  the  straight  line  which  represents 
the  shortest  distance  from  one  point  to  another  would  be  an 
excellent  geometrical  figure  for  me  forthwith  to  describe  in 
the  expected  direction  of  my  companions.  This  might 
prove  worse  than  the  fire,  since,  in  case  of  an  unpleasant 
collision  there  would  be  no  friendly  wharf  to  fall  back  upon, 
or  means  of  making  secure  the  retreat.  I  suppose  that  by 
this  time  Santa  Clara  is  as  free  from  bears  as  Central  Park, 
or  rather  more  so ;  but  they  were  then  among  the  most 
serious  dangers  of  the  wayfarer.  The  brute  who  visited  our 


8o  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

station  was  said  to  have  killett  and  maimed  several  men, 
soon  after,  before  he  was  despatched.  The  neighborhood 
was  also  quite  well  provided  with  wild  cats,  and  coyotes,  the 
wolves  of  the  plains,  whose  music  lent  a  lively  interest  to 
one's  nightly  slumbers  among  the  otherwise  silent  red- 
woods. On  the  whole,  what  with  the  conflagrations  of  the 
town  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  plains,  life  in  California  in 
those  days  did  not  lack  the  excitement  of  danger. 

Nor  were  these  the  only  sources  of  peril.  The  earlier 
land-surveyors  had  to  encounter  others  that  were  unpleas- 
antly frequent.  The  notions  of  bounds  and  metes  enter- 
tained by  the  native  or  Mexican  population  at  that  time 
were  singularly  vague ;  while  their  views  as  to  the  treat- 
ment of  persons  holding  different  or  opposing  ideas  on  such 
subjects  to  their  own,  were  on  the  other  hand  remarkably 
definite  and  unanimous.  As  a  rule  too,  land  claims  over- 
lapped each  other  in  every  direction,  so  that  you  could 
hardly  get  on  a  piece  of  ground  anywhere  but  that  there 
were  several  claimants  to  it.  Hence  the  appearance  in 
those  regions  of  a  surveyor's  party  .with  their  instruments 
was  apt  to  be  as  enlivening  to  the  inhabitants  as  a  red  rag 
to  a  bull ;  and  the  additional  interest,  created  by  the  pro- 
ceedings of  a  generous  supply  of  brigands,  who  used  to 
plunder  the  expresses  and  stages,  as  well  as  single  passen- 
gers, was  hardly  needed  to  give  zest  to  a  professional 
wanderer's  every  day  life.  Perhaps  considering  all  these 
things,  including  grizzlies,  it  was  not  surprising  that  land 
surveyors  should  have  been  so  proverbially  scarce  in  the 
early  times  in  California.  Demand  produces  supply,  and 
since  then,  our  modern  El  Dorado  has  been  quite  as  richly 
endowed  with  men  of  that  calling,  as  other  and  older  parts 
of  the  country. 

I  have  glanced  at  these  little  episodes  of  personal  adven- 
ture which  I  must  not  weary  you  by  extending,  not  of  course, 
because  *of  their  value  or  intrinsic  importance,  but  only 
as  exemplifying  the  opening  of  one  among  many  careers 
which  have  begun  at  Troy,  and  in  the  Polytechnic  Institute, 
and  as  affirming  cordial  and  grateful  testimony  to  the  bene- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  8 1 

fit  derived  from  teachings  here  received.  I  could  tell  truly 
of  some  subsequent  failures,  and  they  might  not  be  without 
their  lesson.  John  Hunter  used  to  say  that  the  art  of 
surgery  would  not  advance  until  professional  men  had  the 
courage  to  publish  their  failures  as  well  as  their  successes; 
James  Watt  insisted  that  the  thing  most  wanted  in  mechan- 
ical engineering  was  a  history  of  failures  ;  and  Humphrey 
Davy  declared  that  the  most  important  of  his  discoveries 
had  been  suggested  to  him  by  his  failures.  However  this 
may  be,  I  can  bear  witness  that  while  my  humble  successes 
were  so  largely  due  to  the  Institute,  for  my  failures  she  has 
been  in  no  sense  responsible.  In  undertaking  various  pur- 
suits, in  various  times  and  places,  I  can  conscientiously  say, 
I  have  always  felt  stronger  and  better  for  such  exact  science 
and  such  mental  discipline  as  were  here  acquired  and  passed 
through  ;  and,  without  entering  upon  the  vexed  question  of 
the  comparative  advantages  of  classical  and  scientific  cul- 
ture, I  may  venture  to  assert  that  in  a  country  like  this,  and 
for  the  present  at  least,  if  the  thorough  acquisition  of  both 
be  out  of  the  question,  the  master  of  science  alone  is  likely 
to  bear  the  palm  of  success  from  the  mere  proficient  in 
classics.  For  the  scientific  work  to  be  done  in  this  western 
hemisphere  is  practically  endless,  and  it  is  not  California 
alone  that  should  be  an  El  Dorado  for  the  American  engin- 
eer, and  geologist  and  chemist.  Here  is  no  narrow  field  for 
their  energies,  no  limited  arena  for  their  discoveries  and 
achievements.  The  whole  boundless  cpntinent  is  theirs, 
and  it  is  a  peculiar  glory  and  honor  to  this  lovely  city  of 
Troy  that  she  possesses  a  fountain  head — so  to  say — of 
such  knowledge  and  power,  a  school  of  such  exceptional 
solidity,  antiquity,  and  thoroughness,  which  sends  forth  its 
young  athletes  to  build  cities,  to  hew  down  forests,  to  level 
mountains,  and  to  pluck  forth  countless  riches  from  the 
bosom  of  the  earth,  to  the  profit  and  progress  of  our  whole 
common  country.  Troy  may  not  be  a  capital,  indeed,  but 
we  niay  say  to  her,  as  the  witch  said  to  Banquo,  "  Thou 
shalt  get  kings,  though  thou  be  none."  Though  Romulus, 
the  founder  of  Rome,  was  the  son  of  Mars,  he  was  likewise 
ii 


82  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

the  offspring  of  Ilia.  The  Trojan  priestess  bore  the  child 
who  reared  the  Imperial  city,  that  "  sat  on  the  seven  hills, 
and  from  her  throne  of  beauty  ruled  the  world."  And 
surely  it  is  better  than  imperial  laurels  to  be  the  seat  of  a 
noble  and  constantly  augmenting  knowledge  ;  the  centre 
where  come,  in  ever  increasing  numbers,  young  experts,  who, 
as  it  is  attested  by  the  Polytechnic  diploma,  are  rendered 
"competent  to  perform  duties,"  and  "to  enter  upon  em- 
ployments which  will  aid  farmers,  mechanics  and  manufac- 
turers, in  the  application  of  science  to  their  respective 
vocations,  and  which  will  contribute  to  the  dissemination  of 
useful  knowledge^  among  the  industrious  part  of  the  rising 
generation." 

The  music  of  the  evening  was  by  Boring's  band. 

The  meeting  was  adjourned  about  ten  o'clock  to  accept 
the  invitation  referred  to  by  President  Forsyth  in  his  open- 
ing address. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


RECEPTION 

BY 

HON.   WILLIAM    KEMP. 

MAYOR  OF  TROY. 


The  guests  began  to  arrive  soon  after  ten  o'clock,  and 
notwithstanding  a  heavy  shower  which  prevailed  at  the 
time,  soon  formed  a  large  assemblage.  Still  the  Mayor's 
hospitality  had  anticipated  and  would  gladly  have  provided 
for  even  a  larger  number. 

Boring's  band  occupied  the  Library  on  the  second  floor, 
and  discoursed  some  of  their  sweetest  music,  quite  in  keep- 
ing with  the  happy  and  fraternal  feelings  evident  among  all 
present. 

The  table  was  literally  loaded  with  tempting  delicacies 
and  sweetmeats.  There  were  numerous  exquisite  floral 
designs.  A  Swiss  cottage  made  of  straw  was  placed  at  each 
end  of  the  table,  profusely  ornamented  with  choice  fragrant 
flowers.  In  the  centre  of  the  table  a  miniature  fountain 
sent  forth  a  column  of  perfume,  filling  the  room  with  its 
delightful  odor.  The  following  students  assisted  the  sons 
of  the  Mayor  as  ushers :  Messrs.  W.  P.  Mason,  J.  L. 
Breese,  E.  A.  Burdett,  and  C.  E.  Griffith. 

It  was  already  midnight  before  the  company  dispersed, 
with  many  thanks  for  the  entertainment  and  pleasure  of  the 
evening,  which  will  long  be  remembered  in  connection 
with  the  semi-centennial  of  1874. 


84  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


WEDNESDAY,  JUNE  17. 


The  Alumni  re-assembled  in  Institute  Hall  at  ten  o'clock, 
Vice-President  Boiler  in  the  Chair.  Mr.  Wallace,  from  the 
committee  to  nominate  officers  for  the  ensuing  three  years, 
reported  the  following : 

President. — William  Gurley. 

Vice-P residents.— W.  W.  Walker,  Frederic  Grinnell,  John 
D.  Van  Buren. 

Secretary. — H.  B.  Nason. 

Treasurer. — David  M.  Greene. 

Directors. — E.  Thompson  Gale,  Francis  Collingwood, 
Joseph  E.  Platt,  W.  H.  Doughty,  R.  B.  C.  Bement. 

The  nominations  being  approved,  the  above  list  of  officers 
was  unanimously  elected. 

A  dispatch  from  Prof.  James  Hall  was  read,  stating  that 
owing  to  illness,  he  would  not  be  able  to  be  present  and 
address  the  meeting  as  expected. 

Hon.  William  Gurley,  President  elect,  then  took  the 
Chair,  thanking  the  association  for  the  honor  conferred  upon 
him.  Prof.  Nason  alluded  briefly  to  his  re-election,  and 
wished  to  be  allowed  to  resign,  inasmuch  as  according  to 
the  constitution  he  could  not  hold  the  office.  On  motion  of 
Hon.  John  H.  White,  the  constitution  was  suspended,  and 
the  election  thereby  ratified.  t  A.  P.  Boiler,  Esq.,  offered 
the  following  resolution  which  was  unanimously  adopted  : 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  £5 

"  That  the  thanks  of  the  Alumni  Association  be  tendered 
to  Prof.  H.  B.  Nason,  Secretary,  for  his  unwearied  endeav- 
ors in  organizing  and  carrying  forward  the  programme  of 
this,  the  semi-centennial  anniversary  of  the  Institute's  life, 
and  for  watching  so  carefully  over  the  comforts  and  pleas- 
ures of  the  members  of  this  association  and  other  visitors." 

Dr.  Ambler  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Hon.  A.  R. 
Fox,  for  his  efforts  in  securing  the  erection  of  the  Eaton 
monument. 

Mr.  Wallace  moved  to  include  in  the  vote  of  thanks  the 
other  members  of  the  committee,  and  Prof.  Nason,  at  whose 
suggestion  the  Eaton  memorial  window  was  placed,  and  by 
whom  it  was  also  designed.  Both  motions  were  unani- 
mously carried. 

Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler,  class  of  1833,  presented  the  following 
resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Whereas,  An  all  wise  Providence  has  seen  fit  since  our 
last  meeting,  to  remove  from  this  earth  two  of  the  gradu- 
ates of  this  Institution ;  and,  whereas  it  is  meet  and  proper 
that  a  record  of  such  fact  be  made  on  our  minutes  ;  there- 
fore 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to 
draft,  place  on  record,  and  send  to  the  family  of  deceased, 
suitable  resolutions  expressive  of  our  feelings  on  the  death 
of  Amos  Westcott,  M.  D.,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  a  graduate  of 
class  of  1835. 

Be  it  also  Resolved,  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed 
by  the  Chair  to  draft,  place  on  record,  and  send  to  the 
family  of  deceased  resolutions  expressive  of  our  feelings  on 
the  death  of  Prof.  Anthony,  of  Albany,  a  graduate  of  1840. 

The  following  committees  were  appointed  : 

On  the  death  of  Prof.  Anthony — Prof.  H.  B.  Nason, 
John  H.  White,  and  A.  M.  Lesley. 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Westcott — Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler,  Dr.  S. 
E.  Arms,  and  Hon.  A.  R.  Fox. 


86  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

A.  M.  Lesley,  of  New  York,1- then  spoke  briefly  of  the 
time  he  was  a  pupil  of  Prof.  Anthony,  and  paid  a  very 
handsome  tribute  to  his  distinguished  qualifications  as  a 
teacher. 

Prof.  Nason  read  an  autobiographical  sketch  of  Prof. 
Anthony's  life,  which  was  prepared  for  the  Institute  records 
two  years  since. 

Hon.  Norman  Stratton,  of  the  Brooklyn  navy  yard  was 
introduced,  and  addressed  the  alumni  in  regard  to  the 
history  and  influence  of  the  Institute. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  87 


ADDRESS  BY  HON.  NORMAN  STRATTON, 

CLASS  OF  1838. 


The  lateness  of  the  hour  admonishes  me  that  I  must  very 
much  abridge  the  remarks  I  had  intended  to  submit  to  you 
on  this  very  interesting  occasion,  and  therefore,  without 
prelude  or  preface,  I  will  at  once  enter  upon  the  task 
assigned  me. 
Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  : 

The  usefulness  and  value  of  an  institution  of  learning, 
after  having  passed  through  a  half  century  of  existence, 
must  be  judged  by  a  severer  test  than  mere  advertised  pro- 
fessions. Its  tenure  for  the  future  will,  in  a  great  measure, 
depend  upon  what  it  has  already  accomplished.  If  it  has 
left  the  mark  of  its  influence  upon  every  decade  through 
which  it  has  passed  ;  if  mankind  have  progressed  towards  a 
higher  life  by  means  of  its  teachings — if  that  which  before 
was  occult  and  useless  has  been  brought  to  light,  vitalized 
and  utilized  for  the  good  of  the  race  through  its  instrumen- 
tality, then  it  has  truly  demonstrated  its  right  not  only  to  a 
new  lease  of  life,  but  to  the  earnest  support  of  every  friend 
of  development  and  progress.  That  this  institution  meets 
and  successfully  answers  to  all  such  tests,  severe  as  they  are, 
is  abundantly  proven  by  the  history  of  its  graduates  and  the 
direct  impress  of  their  acquirements  on  the  achievements 
of  the  past  and  the  present. 

In  all  the  departments  of  the  world's  progress  calculated 
by  their  practical  utility  to  develop  material  prosperity  by 
opening  up  new  avenues  to  enterprise,  and  in  determining 
new  combinations  of  agencies  to  produce  results  before 
unknown,  this  institution  has  a  record  of  which  it  may  be 
justly  proud.  Its  graduates  are  everywhere  and  always 


SS  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

active.  They  are  in  the  army'and  in  the  navy — in  universi- 
ties and  colleges — in  the  halls  of  our  legislatures,  both  State 
and  National — in  the  laboratories  of  the  analytical  chemist 
—in  the  pulpit,  in  the  law  and  in  medicine — in  agriculture, 
giving  to  it  an  elevation  and  a  charm  of  intelligence  which 
the  merely  plodding  practical  farmer  never  knew — in  the 
varied  and  ever-varying  manufacturing  and  mechanic  arts — 
in  intricate  and  careful  surveys,  geographical  and  topograp- 
ical, — and  in  the  construction  of  our  railroads,  canals  and 
other  works.  Indeed  so  varied  and  polytechnic  are  their 
acquirements,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  field  of 
practical  usefulness  or  human  enterprise  where  they  are 
not  found  conspicuous  as  workers.  Decided  in  their  con- 
victions, because  thorough  and  practical  in  their  deductions, 
they  win  their  way  to  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  with 
whom  they  come  in  contact. 

It  was  a  graduate  of  this  Institute  who  laid  the  first  T 
or  heavy  rail,  on  any  railroad  in  this  State.  It  was  a 
graduate  of  this  Institute  who  superintended  the  construc- 
tion of  the  first  long,  or  eight  wheels  car  which  ever  ran  in 
this  State.  It  was  a  graduate  of  this  Institute  who  demon- 
strated by  survey  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  the  cum- 
bersome and  tedious  inclined  plane  on  the  Albany  railroad, 
at  Schenectady,  and  who  ran  a  line  of  levels  within  sight 
of  that  inclined  plane,  establishing  a  grade  of  about  fifty 
feet  to  the  mile,  and  on  which  line  the  present  track,  easily 
traversed  by  an  ordinary  locomotive,  is  located.  All  the 
vast  improvements  in  the  means  of  intercommunication  in 
this  country  with  their  manifold  blessings  and  benefits  to 
all,  have  been  prosecuted,  to  a 'greater  or  less  extent  by  our 
graduates.  To  the  practical  minds  of  our  graduates  we  are 
indebted  for  improvements  in  labor-saving,  machinery  and 
in  instruments  and  apparatus  of  various  kinds.  When  I 
entered  the  profession,  very  few  of  the  instruments  then  in 
use  were  manufactured  in  our  country,  and  those  which 
were,  were  not  considered  as  accurate  and  reliable  as  those 
imported.  Our  theodolites,  transits,  levels  and  drawing  in- 
struments, were  all  from  England.  Since  then,  intelligence, 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  89 

skill  and  enterprise  have  worked  a  complete  revolution. 
Our  home  productions  of  these  instruments  have  not  only 
been  augmented,  but  have  been  so  improved  and  perfected 
that  they  excel,  in  finish  and  accuracy,  those  of  foreign 
manufacture,  once  considered  indispensable.  And  while  I 
would  not  be  invidious  in  naming  any  one  particularly,  to 
the  disparagement  of  others,  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying 
that  this  country  is  indebted  to  a  graduate  of  this  Institute, 
an  honored  citizen  of  this  city,  my  valued  friend,  one  who 
from  boyhood  has  possessed  a  character  without  guile,  for 
the  establishment  in  this  city  of  an  extensive  manufactory 
for  the  construction  of  implements  for  engineering,  mathe- 
matical and  philosophical  purposes,  which  is  not  only  a 
credit  to  this  city,  but  to  our  state  and  nation. 

All  these  results  are  natural,  and  not  arbitrary,  or  by 
chance.  These  practical  developments  have  grown  out  of 
the  methods  of  training  at  this  Institute.  The  carefully 
demonstrated  analysis  of  every  subject, — the  knowledge  of 
principles  and  their  practical  applications,  rather  than  an 
artificial  knowledge  of  a  variety  of  things — even  the  habits 
of  thought  receiving  an  invaluable  training, — these  are  the 
methods  which  have  proved  so  successful  in  developing  not 
only  mind  but  character,  giving  to  science  some  of  its 
brightest  ornaments,  and  to  the  nation  many  useful  and 
valued  citizens.  And  now  a  question  very  naturally  inter- 
poses. If  these  methods  are  so  correct  and  beneficial,  and 
the  results  of  the  polytechnic  plan  so  productive  of  good, 
why  should  not  the  number  of  such  schools  be  increased  all 
over  our  land  ;  and  why  should  its  superior  advantages  and 
benefits  be  exclusively  for  one  sex  ?  The  fact  that  many 
of  our  colleges  have  added  to  their  ordinary  course  of  in- 
struction some  of  the  branches  of  the  course  pursued  at 
this  Institute,  is  proof  of  the  wants  of  the  people  in  this 
respect,  and  shows  a  careful  foresight  on  the  part  of  such 
colleges,  to  endeavor  to  provide  for  and  satisfy  such  wants. 
As  to  the  other  question-,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  grow- 
ing grace  and  justice  of  men  will  yet  cause  old  prejudices, 
chronic  and  stubborn  as  they  have  been,  to  give  way,]and  the 
12 


90  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

time  is  not  far  distant  when  every  school,  every  profession, 
every  enterprise,  will  have  all  gates  and  bars  removed,  and 
access  thereto  be  open  to  all,  without  restriction  to  sex.  I 
know  of  no  harm  that  would  come  to  this  Institute  by  ad- 
mitting ladies  as  students.  I  studied  botany  at  this  Insti- 
tute under  the  teachings  of  a  lady  professor.  I  refer  to 
Miss  Johnson,  whose  love  of  that  science  enabled  her  to 
clothe  her  teachings  with  a  beauty  of  expression  which  the 
lapse  of  time  has  been  unable  to  efface. 

I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  another  favorable  cir- 
cumstance in  the  history  of  this  school.  I  allude  to  the 
steady  progress  made  from  its  small  beginnings.  Very  few 
institutions  of  fifty  years'  standing  but  what  have  had  pe- 
riods of  declension  and  retrogression.  With  us  there  has 
been  steady  progress  from  the  first.  No  hesitation,  no  fal- 
tering, no  backward  step.  There  is  no  time  in  its  history 
when  it  can  be  said  it  was  better  five  years  before,  but  on 
the  contrary,  every  five  years  has  added  to  its  efficiency  and 
value.  I  cannot  but  contrast  its  present  condition  with 
what  it  was  when  I  graduated ;  and  more  especially  as  re- 
gards your  laboratory.  I  readily  bring  to  mind  our  old, 
roughly-made  wooden  one,  with  its  cheap  and  rude  appli- 
ances, standing  in  Walnut  Grove,  on  the  bank  of  a  ravine, 
the  site  of  which  is  now  occupied  by  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Cross.  You  now  have  a  laboratory  of  which  you  may 
justly  be  proud.  I  have  never  seen  one  more  complete  in 
all  its  arrangements  and  appliances.  The  contrast  is  equal- 
ly striking  in  all  the  other  departments ;  so  that  now  this 
Institute  occupies  a  commanding  position  among  the  insti- 
tutions of  learning  in  this  country.  Our  graduates  now 
excel  in  useful  knowledge  those  of  any  college  on  the  con- 
tinent, and  I  might  add  that  this  knowledge  is  obtained  at 
a  less  cost  here  than  elsewhere,  while  the  advantages  of  that 
knowledge,  in  its  applications  to  the  future  of  the  graduate, 
cannot  be  made  a  subject  of  comparison  with  any  school  in 
this  country.  It  requires  a  high  standard  of  acquirements 
in  order  to  gain  a  diploma  here,  and  this  is  becoming  so 
well-known  that  a  diploma  of  this  Institute  is  taken  as  con- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  91 

elusive  evidence  of  the  qualifications  of  its  owner.  I  trust 
that  no  temptation  will  ever  induce  any  lowering  of  the 
present  standard. 

The  success  of  this  Institute,  and  other  institutions  of 
learning  in  our  country,  is  in  my  judgment  solving  a  very 
important  problem  in  relation  to  the  schools  of  the  general 
Government,  supported  wholly  from  the  public  treasury. 
The  public  rnind  is  being  already  awakened  to  this  subject. 
Nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars  is  annually  spent  in  their 
support,  and  an  estimate  shows  that  each  graduated  cadet 
costs  the  Government  $15,000  for  his  education. 

It  is  contended  that  these  Government  schools  are  wrong 
upon  principle.  It  is  claimed  that  the  Government  has  no 
right  to  take  the  money  of  the  people  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  a  select  class  of  favored  persons.  Ours  is  a  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  and  they  should  be  able  to  provide 
schools  for  teaching  every  branch  of  knowledge  needed  for 
any  department  of  the  public  service,  be  it  army  or  navy, 
or  what  not. 

Let  the  Government  establish  whatever  qualifications  it 
pleases,  even  more  rigid  and  exacting  than  any  now  requir- 
ed for  admission  into  its  service,  and  the  enterprise  of  our 
people  will  be  equal  to  the  emergency.  Schools  and  de- 
partments of  schools,  will  be  started  to  teach  the  things  the 
Government  will  require  in  order  to  pass  the  necessary  ex- 
amination for  admission  into  the  service ;  and  the  supply 
will  be  ample  in  proper  men  fully  qualified,  by  their  knowl- 
edge, theoretical  and  practical,  in  nautical  science  and  the 
manual  of  arms,  and  this  supply  will  be  furnished  without 
one  dollar  of  expenditure  of  the  public  money,  and  better 
than  the  Government  could  produce  at  any  cost.  This  is 
no  partisan  question.  It  is  a  question  of  enlightened  pol- 
icy, whether  vast  sums  of  the  public  money  should  be  ex- 
pended every  year  for  the  benefit  of  the  favored  few,  with- 
out an  adequate  return  therefor,  when  the  objects  of  these 
schools  can  be  accomplished  in  a  better  way,  and  without 
any  cost  whatever  to  the  Government. 

So  much  for  the  past  and  the  present.     The  inquiry  now 


92  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

naturally  forces  itself  upon  us,  "  What  of  our  future,  and 
the  future  of  this  Institute?"  Is  that  law  of  growth  and 
progress,  which  has  been  so  faithfully  obeyed  in  the  past, 
to  be  its  leaven  and  its  lever  of  power,  or  is  that  other  law 
of  deterioration  and  decay  to  govern  its  future?  The 
world  has  made  rapid  strides  in  knowledge  during  the  past 
fifty  years,  equal  to  any  five  hundred  years  of  its  previous 
history.  In  everything,  development  has  followed  develop- 
ment, in  such  rapid  succession,  while  science  has  been  un- 
folding new  pages  of  her  mysterious  books,  and  throwing 
the  light  of  intelligence  on  what  was  before  obscure  and 
uncertain.  The  heretofore  inscrutable  history  of  our  race 
is  being  written  in  the  light  of  scientific  discoveries,  not  in 
conflict,  as  I  believe,  with  the  true  interpretation  and  mean- 
ing of  the  Mosaic  record,  but  in  loving  harmony  therewith. 
These  and  kindred  discoveries  of  science  are  yet  to  have  a 
salutary  influence  upon  the  progress  of  humanity.  The 
pernicious  teachings  of  the  past  as  to  the  utter  worthless- 
ness,  vileness  and  depravity  of  man,  is  passing  away,  and 
as  science  unfolds  to  us  the  loving  care  of  the  great  pro- 
ducing Cause,  which  has  watched  the  progress  of  the  race 
from  its  almost  useless  infancy  to  a  vigorous  and  useful 
manhood,  we  cannot  fail  to  feel  that  we  have  a  destiny 
grand  and  glorious  beyond  anything  we  are  now  able  to 
appreciate.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  the 
race,  whether  it  descended  from  a  single  pair,  pure  and 
happy  in  the  innocence  of  an  absence  of  knowledge  of  both 
good  and  evil,  or  whether  .it  gradually  evolved  and  devel- 
oped from  something  lower  to  something  higher,  till  through 
ages  of  intellectual  chaos  and  twilight  it  at  last,  by  almost 
imperceptible  stages  of  advancement,  came  gradually  into 
a  clearer  light, — are  questions  which  may  be  named  but  not 
discussed  at  this  time.  For  the  present  we  may  consider 
them  as  questions  the  exact  solution  of  which  is  yet  dark- 
ened by  the  clouds  of  mystery.  But  certain  it  is,  that  the 
race  has  made  continual  advancement  from  the  earliest  of 
its  historical  periods  to  the  present  hour ;  so  that  progress 
seems  to  be  its  normal  condition  and  the  most  important 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  03 

factor  of  its  life.  What,  therefore,  has  been  so  true  of  the 
past  will  be  equally  true  of  the  future,  except  that  each 
generation  will  use  the  discoveries  and  improvements  of  its 
predecessors  as  firm  foundations  on  which  to  build  better 
and  more  advantageously.  What  the  discoveries  and  im- 
provements of  the  next  five  decades  will  be,  we  may  con- 
jecture, but  that  is  all. 

Our  fathers  fifty  years  ago,  were  peering  into  the  future, 
and  doubtless  desired  to  know  something  of  its  vast  store- 
house and  its  fast  unfolding  mysteries.  If  then  some  super- 
nal being  had  told  them  of  what  the  uses  of  steam  would 
accomplish  within  the  next  fifty  years — of  the  construction 
of  roads  of  iron  all  over  the  country,  reaching  even  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ocean — with  what  speed  and 
luxurious  comfort  we  could  go  from  place  to  place,  that 
even  the  darkness  of  the  night  would  be  no  obstruction  to 
this  rapid  transit — had  told  of  the  great  improvements  in 
the  implements  of  agriculture  and '  the  contrivances  by 
which  man  would  be  relieved  from  heavy  burdens,  so  that 
science  and  skill  would  call  to  the  multitudes  of  men  like 
the  Great  Master  of  old,  to  leave  off  the  heavy  burdens 
which  ignorance  had  imposed,  and  take  upon  them  a  burden 
that  was  easy. 

If  they  had  been  told  how  light,  that  beautifully  mys- 
terious modification  of  the  vital  fluid,  would  be  used  in 
making  accurate  likenesses,  and  that  the  sun  was  to  become 
not  alone  the  light  of  the  universe,  but  the  great  and  accu- 
rate limner  of  the  world. 

If  they  had  been  told,  of  what  is  now  so  plain  to  us, 
how  that  destructive  electricity  should  become  a  tamed 
agent  for  the  transmission  of  messages  hundreds  of  miles  in 
an  instant  of  time,  and  how  the  Atlantic  ocean  would  be  no 
barrier  to  it,  but  that  hundreds  of  words  should  pass  to  and 
fro  every  hour  along  its  uneven,  bed,  permitting  constant 
communications  with  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world. 

If  they  had  been  told  of  the  startling  discoveries  in 
chemical  science,  and  especially  that  a  powerful  anodyne 
would  be  discovered  and  perfected,  so  that  it  would  be 


94  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

possible  from  thenceforth  for  tlie  most  painful  operations  in 
surgery  to  be  performed  without  giving  the  slightest  pain  to 
the  patient,  who,  meanwhile  the  operation,  would  be  quietly 
reposing  as  in  a  natural  slumber,  thus  verifying  the  words  of 
the  Hebrew  king,  "  He  giveth  his  beloved  sleep."  In  short, 
if  they  had  then  been  told  of  all  the  vast  and  mighty  pro- 
gressions that  have  taken  place  during  the  past  fifty  years, 
changing  as  they  have,  the  very  habits  of  thought  of  the 
people,  and  opening  up  channels  of  business  enterprise 
before  unknown,  they  could  not  have  appreciated  nor  under- 
stood them.  He  who  should  have  given  such  information 
would  have  been  looked  upon  as  a  dreamer — a  wild  enthu- 
siast, or  something  less  complimentary. 

Apply  all  this  to  our  case,  standing  as  we  do  to-day, 
looking  back  in  contemplation  and  wonder  of  this  great  and 
glorious  past,  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  future,  and  almost 
tremblingly  ask,  "  What  of  the  next  fifty  years?"  Is  there 
still  room  for  other  improvements  as  great  in  their  changes 
and  results  as  those  in  the  past  ?  No  supernal  one  gives 
any  answer  to  our  earnest  inquiries,  and  we  are  left  to  the 
dim  light  of  analogy.  We  can  only  reason  from  the  past. 
Neither  the  world  nor  the  people  in  it  will  stand  still. 
Growth  and  progress  will  be  the  impelling  law  of  the  future 
as  it  has  been  in  the  past.  Every  new  development  in 
science  or  art  will  prove  accelerating  forces  for  other  and 
still  higher  developments  in  the  same  and  other  directions. 
Applications  of  principles  to  new  uses  and  purposes  will 
doubtless  be  of  constant  occurrence — all  steadily  tending, 
as  the  great  first  cause  intended,  in  one  direction — the 
beautifying  of  the  world  around  us,  the  disenthrallment  of 
the  race  from  ignorance,  superstition  and  error,  and  its 
elevation  in  intelligence,  usefulness  and  happiness. 

The  discoveries  of  the  past  and  the  attainments  of  the 
present  are  great ;  the  developments  and  achievements  of 
the  future  will  be  glorious,  far  more  so  than  we  are  now  able 
to  appreciate  or  understand,  for  certain  it  is,  and  you  can 
depend  upon  it,  that  the  prophetic  words  of  the  Seer  of 
Israel  are  emphatically  true,  for,  "  KNOWLEDGE  SHALL  BE 

INCREASED." 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


95 


Dr.  Richards,  a  pupil  of  Prof.  Eaton  fifty-three  years  ago, 
moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Stratton  for  his  address, 
which  was  unanimously  passed. 

Clark  Fisher,  Chief  Engineer  in  the  United  States  navy, 
made  some  remarks  in  regard  the  usefulness  and  contin- 
uance of  the  naval  school  at  Annapolis,  and  military  school 
at  West  Point,  which  were  seconded  by  President  Gurley. 

A  letter  from  Hon.  Geo.  M.  Tibbits,  was  then  read  by  the 
Secretary,  expressing  thanks  for  the  invitation  to  be  present 
at  the  various  exercises  of  the"  week,  and  also  the  deep 
interest  he  has  always  felt  in  the  Institution. 

Professor  Nason  then  spoke  concerning  the  large  num- 
ber of  students  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  late 
war,  and  gave  short  sketches  of  the  life  and  character  of 
those  for  whom  memorial  windows  have  been  recently  placed 
in  the  library  room  of  the  Institute. 


96  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


MAJOR  JAMES  CROMWELL,  C.  E. 


"  The  good  die  young,  but  they  whose  hearts 
Are  dry  as  summer's  dust,  burn  in  their  sockets." 

James  Cromwell  was  born  at  Cornwall,  N.  Y.,  January 
4th,  1840.  He  was  of  Quaker  parentage,  and  remained 
himself  a  member  of  that  society  until  he  joined  the  army. 
Some  men  are  not  made  of  common  clay;  and  whatever 
may  be  their  rank  in  a  social  point  of  view,  God  writes 
noble  men  on  their  brows,  and  all  men  pay  involuntary 
respect.  This  was  especially  true  of  James  Cromwell. 

He  entered  the  Institute  in  May,  1858,  and  graduated 
June  3rd,  1861,  in  advance  of  his  class,  in  order  to  enter 
the  service  of  the  country  he  loved  so  dearly,  that  glorious 
cause  for  which  he  ultimately  sacrificed  his  life.  We,  who 
knew  and  loved  him  are  able  to  contemplate  his  student 
life  with  unalloyed  satisfaction.  Not  only  did  he  stand  high 
in  the  prescribed  studies  of  the  Institute  course,  but  those 
same  qualities  which  won  him  respect  and  esteem  amid  the 
noise  and  bloodshed  of  war,  made  him  first  in  the  affection 
of  his  fellows  in  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  science.  He 
was  elected  to  the  most  popular  office  among  the  stu- 
dents, which  he  retained  as  long  as  he  remained  in  Troy. 
Better  than  all,  his  character  stands  out  prominent  in  its 
moral  purity,  unstained  by  any  of  those  youthful  excesses 
which  are  too  often  the  accompaniments  of  college  life.  He 
was  a  gentleman  in  the  truest,  noblest  acceptation  of  the 
word. 

The  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  aroused  in  James  Cromwell,  all 
the  indignation  natural  to  a  heart  so  full  of  truthfulness  and 
patriotism,  He  would,  by  entering  the  army,  oppose  the 
teachings  of  that  religion  under  whose  influence  he  had 
been  educated.  Nothing  bade  him  go  but  the  call  of  duty  ; 
to  him  that  call  was  more  than  all  else.  "Bid  me  stay,"  he 
told  his  friends,  "  and  there  is  an  end  of  the  matter,  but 
remember,  that  while  I  obey  you  I  will  be  neglecting  a 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  97 

solemn  call  from  God  and  my  country,  a  course  which 
would  sadly  affect  all  my  after  life."  One  answer  could 
come  to  such  an  appeal,  and  one  only  ;  "  Go,  and  God  bless 
you."  He  did  go;  and  of  all  our  noble  martyrs  that  have 
been  called  from  "  works  to  rewards,"  none  went  with  more 
Christian  purpose  or  with  braver  heart  than  James  Crom- 
well. 

He  was  engaged  in  various  skirmishes,  among  others  at 
Manassas  Gap,  November  6th,  1862,  and  in  the  more  im- 
portant conflicts  at  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  December  i4th, 
and  i5th,  1862,  at  Chancellorville,  Va.,  May  2nd,  3rd,  and 
4th,  1863,  at  Beverly  Ford,  Va.,  June  gih,  1863,  and  at  the 
decisive  battle  of  Gettysburgh,  July  2nd,  1863,  in  which  he 
lost  his  life,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-three.  Throughout 
his  career  as  a  soldier  his  courage  was  conspicuous  even  in 
that  army  of  brave  men,  who  purchased  peace  for  us  at  such 
a  costly  price.  James  Cromwell  seemed  fully  to  illustrate 
in  his  brief  life  the  familiar  lines — 

"  Where  duty  calls  or  danger 
Be  never  wanting  there." 

Thus  responding  to  the  call  of  duty,  and  liberty  among 
the  first,  he  was  true  to  their  promptings  to  the  last ;  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three  he  had  attained  a  position  com- 
manding respect  of  all.  How  grandly  his  tall  figure  looms 
up  amid  the  smoke  and  blood  of  the  battle !  Patiently  and 
heroically  he  had  borne  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  fight 
with  his  men — stubbornly  they  had  held  their  ground  amid 
iron  storm,  till  the  enemy  wavered  and  were  giving  way — 
then  riding  forward,  he  turned  to  his  men  with  a  glad  smile, 
and  called  upon  them  to  advance,  shouting  Victory !  At 
that  moment  the  fatal  shot  struck  him,  but  "  he  came  a 
conqueror  to  his  rest."  Though  he  then  departed,  the  glad 
smile  still  remained  upon  his  features — victory  remained  ; 
and  his  noble  memory  remains,  and  will  ever  be  one  of  the 
most  cherished  tradkions  of  his  alma  mater.  In  our  mem- 
ories he  will  ever  be  enshrined,  as  he  last  stood  on  that  great 
decisive  battle  field  of  the  century — a  smile  upon  his  face, 
his  sword  waving  high,  and  shouting  Victory  ! 
13 


98  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

COL.  CHARLES  &SBORN  GRAY. 


Immediately  after  the  retreat  of  General  Foster's  forces  to 
Newbern,  it  was  announced  through  the  journals  of  the  day 
that  one  who  had  but  recently  left  us  had  fallen  in  the  de- 
fence of  his  country. 

Charles  Osborn  Gray  entered  the  Institute  in  the  fall  or 
winter  of  1857,  and  remained  until  the  summer  of  |[86i, 
when,  we  believe,  he  was  called  home  on  account  of 
sickness  in  his  father's  family.  While  here  he  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  his  teachers  and  fellow  students,  and  was 
generally  admired  for  his  manly  conduct  by  all  who  came  in 
contact  with  him.  Many  of  his  former  associates  were 
deeply  affected  when  they  heard  he  had  fallen,  and  so  nobly 
too,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  cheering  on  his  men, 
wounded  and  dying  in  the  arms  of  his  officers,  after  having 
planted  the  regimental  colors  so  noble  and  valiently  on  the 
Kinston  bridge. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  his  remains  passed  through  this 
city  on  their  way  to  their  last  resting  place,  in  a  neat  little 
cemetery  planned  and  laid  out  by  his  own  hands, — and  now 
his  battered  and  well  worn  sword,  the  tattered  and  mutilated 
flag  of  his  regiment,  pierced  by  many  bullets,  borne  so 
nobly  through  the  strife  of  many  battles  are  all  that  are  left 
to  remind  us  of  his  heroic  demeanor  in  the  cause  of  his 
country,  and  that  he  served  it  faithfully,  by  laying  down  his 
life  in  its  cause. 

Charles  Osborn  Gray,  was  born  at  Warrensburgh  in  this 
State,  on  the  24th  of  March,  1839,  and  was  killed  on  the 
i4th  of  December,  1862,  being  in  the  24th  year  of  his  age. 

His  regiment,  the  96th  N.  Y.  V.,  was  organized  at  Platts- 
burgh,  N.  Y.,  and  was  mustered  into  the  United  States 
service  February  2oth,  1862,  at  which  time  he  received  the 
commission  of  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  command  as 
Colonel,  October  i3th,  1862. 

The  following  list  of  his  engagements  is  inscribed  upon 
the  window :  Yorktown,  Williamsburgh,  Fair  Oaks,  Seven 
Days'  Battle,  Blackwater,  and  Kinston. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  99 

LIEUT.  OTIS  FISHER. 


Otis  Fisher  was  born  at  Newport,  Me.,  December  5th, 
1840,  but  at  the  time  of  entering  the  Institute,  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Trenton,  N.  J.  He  came  to  the  Institute  in  the 
Fall  of  1859,  and  remained  until  after  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  in  1861.  The  first  gun  of  Sumter  set  fire  to  his 
patriotism,  and  the  desire  to  serve  his  country  grew  stronger 
as  every  appeal  for  soldiers  came  from  our  Capitol.  He 
talked,  dreamed,  thought  of  nothing  but  the  army  until  he 
received  his  commission.  A  letter  written  home,  making 
known  his  desire,  brought  his  father  to  Troy.  Never  can  I 
forget  the  morning  they  came  together  to  my  room.  The 
aged  father,  quite  infirm,  his  head  bowed,  and  his  face 
speaking  louder  than  his  words  the  deep  sadness  of  his 
heart,  told  me  that,  while  one  son  was  in  the  navy,  it  seemed 
too  much  to  give  another  for  the  army.  After  stating  all 
the  case,  he  raised  his  eyes,  full  of  anguish,  and  said,  "  Oh ! 
can  you  not,  by  the  affection  he  bears  for  you  as  well  as  for 
me,  influence  him  to  remain  at  home,  at  least  until  the  need 
of  men  is  greater  than  now  ?"  And  then  came  the  answer 
that  neither  of  us  could  well  meet :  "  When  will  the  need 
be  greater  than  now,  and  if  it  is  the  duty  of  any  one  to  go 
now,  why  is  it  not  mine  ?  Father  I  must  go." 

He  soon  after  sought  an  appointment  in  the  regular  army, 
and  by  the  influence  of  Hon.  John  C.  Ten  Eyck,  U.  S.  Sena- 
tor, received  a  commission  as  lieutenant  in  the  Eighth  U.  S. 
Infantry.  He  was  for  a  time  on  duty  at  Fort  Columbus  in 
New  York  harbor,  and  recruiting  at  Scranton,  Pa.  His 
regiment  being  ordered  to  Virginia,  he  joined  them.  Being 
desirous  of  more  active  service,  he  sought  and  obtained  a 
staff  appointment. 

About  the  time  of  the  second  battle  of  Manassas,  he  was 
taken  prisoner  by  accident.  Being  sent  with  an  order,  and 
returning  to  the  position  of  his  brigade,  he  found  himself 
surrounded  by  rebel  forces,  who  captured  him  and  took  him 
to  Richmond,  where  he  was  confined  for  several  months  in 
Libby  Prison.  Upon  his  release  he  returned  home,  with 


100  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

very  evident  appearance  of  privation  and  suffering  from  his 
treatment  in  captivity.  When  he  had  sufficiently  recovered 
he  joined  his  regiment  in  Virginia,  and  was  afterward  put 
upon  the  sraff  of  Gen.  Wilcox.  At  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, Gen.  Archer's  brigade  was  captured  by  our  army,  and 
the  Eighth  U.  S.  Infantry  were  detailed  as  a  guard  of  pris- 
oners. Gen.  Archer  had  captured  Lieut.  Fisher,  and  his 
regiment  were  much  inclined  to  return  in  kind  the  severe 
treatment  their  beloved  young  lieutenant  had  received  from 
his  troops. 

In  the  advance  of  Gen.  Grant  upon  Richmond,  he  was 
in  all  the  battles,  and  constantly  under  fire,  commanding 
the  praise  of  his  superiors  and  the  respect  of  the  whole 
corps  with  which  he  was  connected,  by  his  gallantry.  He 
received  a  slight  wound,  which  did  not  disable  him,  and 
continued  on  duty. 

At  the  explosion  of  the  mine  before  Petersburg,  among 
other  dangerous  duties,  he  carried  an  order  from  the  Fifth 
to  the  Ninth  corps,  crossing  the  space  between  them,  which 
was  swept  by  the  artillery  and  musketry  of  both  sides,  and 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  life,  a  bullet  passing  through  his 
hat.  When  the  last  advance  was  made,  on  Friday,  Septem- 
ber 3oth,  below  Petersburg,  he  volunteered  to  take  com- 
mand of  a  battalion  of  the  Fourteenth  New  York  Heavy 
Artillery,  under  Major  Randall,  and  was  wounded  in  the 
charge  of  the  regiment,  but  kept  command  until  they  came 
out  of  action.  For  this  gallant  act  he  received  the  praise 
of  all  who  witnessed  his  bravery,  and  the  warmly  expressed 
admiration  of  the  soldiers  he  had  led.  The  wound  was  in 
the  head,  and  although  serious,  it  was  hoped  he  would  re- 
cover;  but  on  the  evening  of  October  3d  he  died  in  hospital, 
and  his  body  was  forwarded  to  his  home  in  Trenton. 

His  disposition  was  kind  and  affectionate;  his  manner 
modest  and  unassuming ;  his  will  firm  and  courageous. 
With  such  qualities,  it  was  the  fond  anticipation  of  his 
many  friends  that  he  would  attain  the  highest  military  hon- 
ors. He  has,  however,  fallen  young,  but  not  without  leav- 
ing his  record  as  a  true  soldier  and  patriot.  Such  is  the 
brief  sketch  of  his  military  life. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  IOI 

LIEUT.  HENRY  W.  MERIAN,  C.  E. 


Henry  W.  Merian  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1839.  He  entered  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  In- 
stitute in  1856,  and  graduated  in  1858.  On  returning  to 
Brooklyn  he  entered  the  engineer  department  of  the  Ridge- 
wood  Water  Works,  in  Brooklyn,  and  was  actively  engaged 
in  surveying,  &c.,  until  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war,  when 
he  joined  a  New  York  volunteer  regiment  for  three  month's 
service  on  the  upper  Potomac. 

After  his  return  he  was  admitted  to  the  U.  S.  Navy,  engi- 
neer's department,  in  1862,  and  after  some  service  in  the 
Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  was  appointed  Third  Assistant 
Engineer  to  the  U.  S.  Monitor  Weehawken,  and  left  in  her 
for  Port  Royal,  S.  C.,  on  the  ipth  January,  1863;  thence 
for  Warsaw  Sound,  Ga.,  where,  on  the  i;th  of  June,  1863, 
the  Weehawken  had  the  good  fortune,  single-handed,  to 
capture  the  rebel  ram  Atlanta.  In  July,  1863,  she  proceeded 
to  Charleston  harbor,  and  for  four  months  was  actively 
employed  in  shelling  Fort  Sumter,  Fort  Moultrie,  &c.  On 
the  6th  of  December,  1863,  while  at  anchor  in  the  bay,  she 
foundered,  and  three  of  her  engineers  then  on  duty  in  the 
engine  room,  lost  their  lives,  one  of  whom  was  Henry  W. 
Merian.  He  died  in  the  service  of  his  country,  at  the  age 
of  23  years  and  1 1  months,  universally  regretted  by  all  who 
knew  him.  In  1872,  some  of  the  remains  of  the  lost  ones 
on  board  the  Weehawken  were  recovered,  brought  by  order 
of  the  Navy  Department  to  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  and 
there  committed  to  earth  with  military  honors. 


MAJOR  ALBERT  METCALF  HARPER,  C.  E. 


Albert  Metcalf  Harper,  born  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  April 
22d,  1843,  was  the  second  son  of  John  Harper  and  Lydia 
Electra  Metcalf,  of  Pittsburgh.  He  was  an  under-graduate 
of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  in  1861-2.  He 
was  appointed  by  the  Governor  the  first  Adjutant  of  the 


102  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

i39th  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  August  25th, 
1862.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  Wil- 
derness, May  5th,  1864.  He  was  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent as  Assistant  Adjutant  General  of  Volunteers,  with  the 
rank  of  Captain,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  August  17,  1864.  The  President  conferred  on  him 
the  rank  of  Major  by  brevet,  "for  faithful  and  meritorious 
services,"  May  21,  1865. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1865,  he  recommenced  his 
scientific  studies  at  the  Institute,  where  he  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  Civil  Engineer,  July  2,  1867.  Subsequently, 
he  devoted  nearly  a  year  to  the  faithful  study  of  analytical 
chemistry.  Afterward  he  assumed  the  management  of  a 
large  oil  refinery.  In  the  month  of  October,  1869,  he  en- 
tered into  mercantile  business,  as  a  partner  in  the  firm  of 
Dilworth,  Harper  &  Co.  He  was  unmarried.  After  an  ill- 
ness of  four  weeks,  he  died  of  typhoid  fever,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  his  parents,  on  the  evening  of  December  10,  1871. 

Duty  we  know  was  the  rule  and  law  of  his  youth  and 
manhood.  What  was  right,  what  was  his  duty,  that  he  would 
do.  No  engagement  or  allurement  drew  him  aside  from  a 
recognized  obligation.  No  companionship  would  succeed 
in  persuading  him  to  break  a  rule  of  good  morals  and  cor- 
rect life. 

It  is  but  a  little  while  ago  that  our  country  was  beginning 
its  agony  of  contest  for  its  very  existence.  May  days  so 
dark  and  perilous  never  come  to  her,  nor  to  any  of  us,  for 
her  sake,  again.  Then,  in  those  days,  this  brave  boy  was  at 
his  college  of  science.  He  felt  the  call  of  duty  and  wrote 
home  begging  permission  to  do  that  duty.  He  alone  of  his 
home  circle  had  the  years  and  physical  vigor  for  the  toil  of 
war.  He  must  represent  his  home  in  the  ranks  which  were 
filled  with  so  many  prime  youths  from  all  our  homes,  rich 
and  poor.  It  was  not  a  romance,  nor  wild  impulse  ;  it  was 
duty  calmly  measured  that  brought  the  boy  home  to  become 
a  soldier.  The  same  principle  carried  him  through  three 
years  of  his  service.  No  toil,  nor  peril,  nor  responsibility 
was  avoided.  Wounds,  and  their  danger  and  suffering,  were 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


103 


his  lot;  but  with  the  first  return  of  strength  the  soldier  went 
back  to  his  post.  He  was  able,  discreet  and  brave — so  all 
testify.  But  so,  thank  God,  were  many  others  too.  He  was 
throughout,  temperate,  virtuous,  pure,  unswayed  by  any  ill 
examples  into  any  of  the  gross  vices  which  too  often  stain 
the  soldier's  life.  Would  that  this  glory  were  less  rare  than 
it  is.  Thank  God,  we  will  to-day,  that  He  gave  this 
noble  principle  and  record  to  this  short  life.  Then  the  war 
over,  at  twenty-two  years  of  age,  the  manly  youth,  with 
a  wisdom  not  often  seen  in  such  cases,  went  back  to 
his  school  and  resumed  and  completed  his  preparation  there 
for  his  maturer  life.  That  done,  he  moved  forward  quietly 
and  resolutely  into  the  projects  of  active  business.  In  these 
we  all  know  how  great  and  ceaseless  was  his  energy,  and 
how  upright  and  courteous  his  acts  and  words  were,  in  the 
market,  as  well  as  in  the  social  circle.  He  has  left  a  name 
and  record  among  us,  as  all  testify,  without  a  blot. 


JAMES  R.PERCY,  C.  E. 


Since  the  meeting  of  the  Alumni,  another  window  has 
been  ordered  for  the  Library,  by  the  class  of  1859,  for  their 
classmate,  James  R  Percy,  of  Fowler's  Mills,  Ohio,  late 
Captain  U.  S.  Engineers  (Volunteers). 


PROF.  AMOS  EATON. 


The  window  for  Prof.  Amos  Eaton  is  placed  in  the  Insti- 
tute Hall,  in  the  centre  of  the  west  end  of  the  room,  and 
was  presented  by  his  former  pupils  and  other  members  of 
the  Alumni.  It  is  fifteen  feet  in  length,  and  five  feet  in 
breadth.  In  the  centre  is  a  life-size  portrait,  accurately 
copied  from  the  original  painted  a  short  time  before  the 
death  of  Prof.  Eaton,  by  our  townsman  and  eminent  artist, 
A.  B.  Moore,  Esq. 

Beneath  the  portrait  is  inscribed  "  The  Republican  Phi- 
losopher," which  the  late  Mrs.  Emma  Willard  once  said 


104  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

would  be  the  most  appropriate  inscription  for  his  tomb. 
Near  the  top  in  a  circle  are  represented  the  two  species  of 
plants  named  in  honor  of  Professor  Eaton,  by  Professor 
Gray,  the  Eatonia  obtusata,  and  Pennsylvanica. 

Near  the  bottom  in  a  circle  are  represented  a  transit, 
chain  and  geological  hammer,  while  at  the  bottom  is  the 
inscription  :  "  Amos  Eaton,  born  at  Chatham,  N.  Y.,  May 
iyth,  1776;  died  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  May  6th,  1842.  Senior 
Professor  in  this  Institute  from  1824  to  1842." 


PROF.  JOHN  WRIGHT. 


A  window  has  been  presented  by  Mrs.  James  Gardner, 
of  Lansingburgh,  to  be  placed  in  the  east  end  of  the  hall, 
in  memory  of  her  brother,  John  Wright,  M.  D.  Born  in 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  February  2d,  1811;  professor  of  botany  and 
zoology  in  the  Institute  from  1838  to  1845.  He  died  at 
Aiken,  S.  C.,  April  n,  1846. 


PROF.  WILLIAM  ELDERHORST. 


The  window  for  Prof.  William  Elderhorst,  presented  by 
the  alumni  and  friends  at  the  semi-centennial  meeting,  is 
to  be  placed  in  the  east  end  of  the  hall,  and  bears  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  :  "  William  Elderhorst,  M.  D.,  born  in 
Celle,  Germany,  Sept.  3oth,  1828.  Prof,  of  chemistry  in 
the  R.  P.  I.  from  1855  to  1861.  Died  in  Maracaibo,  Brazil, 
July  28,  1861. 


At  two  o'clock  the  meeting  adjourned,  and  the  alumni 
and  former  students  of  the  Institute  proceeded  to  Harmony 
Hall,  where  a  dinner  had  been  prepared  for  them  and  quite 
a  large  number  of  invited  guests.  The  alumni  were  seated 
in  the  order  of  their  classes,  the  president,  Hon.  William 
Gurley,  presiding. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


The  Divine  blessing  was  invoked  by  Rev.  Charles  E. 
Robinson,  D.  D.,  of  Troy. 

The  dinner  was  prepared  by  the  popular  caterer,  Charles 
F.  Lucas,  of  Troy.  After  the  dinner,  which  occupied  about 
two  hours,  was  'finished,  the  president  made  a  short  speech, 
and  called  upon  Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler,  of  New  York,  class  of 
'33,  for  a  poem. 

The  Doctor  disclaimed  and  took  exception  to  the  name 
of  poem  which  had  been  applied  to  his  production,  for  he 
regarded  it  little  more  than  a  rhyme  intended  as  a  reply  to 
the  toast  of  his  class.  The  verses  were  received  by  the  old 
graduates  with  a  hearty  relish,  taking  their  memories  back 
to  the  days  of  actual  student  life. 

THE  CLASS  OF  THIRTY-THREE. 


Eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-three  ! 
That  is  the  date  that  rouses  me  ! 
Were  I  but  young  as  I  was  then, 
How  it  would  drive  my  muse's  pen  ! 
But  now  I  must  do  the  best  I  can, 
For  now,  as  you  see,  I'm  an  aged  man  ! 
And  I  respond  in  this  humble  verse, 
Because  in  prose  I  might  do  it  worse. 

I  was  one  of  a  class  of  eight, 
All  ambitious  of  something  great  ; 
But  forty  years — what  a  time  to  wait ! 
We  were  but  few,  but  some  had  brains, 
And  made  the  most  of  their  mental  gains 
And  that,  perhaps,  is  the  reason  why 
We  are  all  alive  and  all  so  spry, 
And  laugh  at  life  as  the  years  fly  by  ! 

If,  in  the  presidential  chair, 
We  have  not  governed  the  nation  there 
And  borne  the  burthen  of  public  care, 
We  have  not  had  the  time  to  spare  ! 

Or  if,  within  some  prison  walls, 

We  have  not  heard  our  country's  calls, 

14 


106  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

And  done  the  State  some  service  there, — 
Excuse  us, — we  have  been  elsewhere  ! 

Though  virtue  we  have  always  prized, 
As  saints  we  are  not  canonized  ; 
Nor  have  we  yet  aspired  so  high 
As  by  the  gallows  rope  to  die. 
Not  one  a  traitor,  thief  nor  rogue, 
(Just  now  so  very  much  in  vogue,) 
Yet  these  distinctions  all  may  win, 
By  patient,  persevering  sin  ! 

Divinity,  Medicine  and  Law 
Have  not  disdained  from  us  to  draw 
Recruits,  their  noble  ranks  to  grace, 
Eacfcfilling  still  an  honored  place  ; 
While,  too,  some  hold  distinguished  part 
In  science  and  the  works  of  art. 

In  truth,  'twere  easy  to  be  shown, 
If  some  of  us  are  still  unknown, 
Unmentioned  by  the  "  trump  of  fame," 
Our  tutors  are  the  men  to  blame  ! 
For  they  instilled  such  modest  ways, 
Such  carelessness  of  noisy  praise, 
That  we  have  never  cast  our  eyes 
Beyond  contentment's  peaceful  skies 
To  grasp  such  a  windy  prize  ! 

No  ;  we  were  philosophic  then, 

And  ruled  ourselves  like  prudent  men  ! 

Our  porridge  then  with  thanks  we  took, 

And  asked  no  favors  of  a  cook. 

The  limpid  spring  and  simple  bread, 

Those  luxuries  before  us  spread, 

No  gout  nor  surfeiting  to  dread, 

Left  clear  and  cool  the  student's  head  ! 

How  strange  the  forms  of  human  bliss  ! 
What  contrast  now,  that  scene  and  this  ! 
Then  chief  the  hunger  of  the  soul, 
Now  other  appetites  control ! 
And  this  grand  banquet  tells  us  true 
How  much  more,  in  this  point  of  view, 
The  stomach  than  the  head  can  do  ! 

Ah  !  Thirty-three,  how  we  enjoyed 
The  hardest  duties  that  employed 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

Our  hands  and  hearts  and  spirits  all, 

As  loyalty's  of  valor's  call. 

I  well  remember  now  a  raid 

That  some  rude,  rough  marauders  made, 

Upon  our  old  professor's  land, 

When,  foot  to  foot  and  hand  to  hand, 

We  made  the  bold  intruders  stand ! 

How  rang  the  air  with  many  a  shout, 
How  poured  the  blood  from  many  a  snout, 
While  hung  the  dreadful  strife  in  doubt  ; 
Till  valor,  skill  and  bludgeons  too, 
Defeated  there  the  thievish  crew. 

There  were  some  noses  and  heads  to  mend, 

But  garden  fences  we  must  defend, 

And  the  old  professor  was  our  friend. 

So,  though  it  was  Sunday,  we  fought  it  out, 

Before  he  knew  what  it  was  about, 

But  he  forgave  us  the  sinful  fray 

Because  for  him  we  had  fought  that  day. 

Such  was  the  class  of  thirty-three ! 
Such,  for  the  right,  may  we  ever  be  ! 
Modest  and  valiant,  strong  and  wise, 
Noble  ambition  and  truth  the  prize  ! 

Forty  years  ago  !     How  the  ages  slip  away  ! 
Forty  of  us  living  !     Forty  things  to  say  : 
But  how  now  to  go  on — or  even  to  begin, 
Is  as  hard  a  doubt  just  now  as  the  origin  of  sin  ! 
How  the  truths  of  science  then  we  learned  to  spell, 
Idle  rogues  as  we  were,  now  'tis  hard  to  tell, 
Though  our  good  old  mother  kept  us  in  her  school, 
I  can  well  remember  how  we  played  the  fool ! 

Our  venerable  founder,  old  Professor  E , 

Upon  our  memory's  tablet  none  more  loved  than  he, 

With  quaint  and  quiet  manners,  odd  in  his  attire, 

How  his  solid  science  did  our  souls  inspire  ! 

But  alas,  how  sadly  we  his  pains  repaid 

By  our  inattention  and  the  tricks  we  played, 

With  our  gas  explosion  and  sulphuric  fumes, 

Making  it  unpleasant  for  him  in  our  rooms  ! 

And  I  well  remember  one  instructor  there, 
Whom  I  name  with  honor  for  his  kindly  care, 
Generous  and  gentle,  he  would  overlook 


107 


108  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

All  the  little  mischiefs  that  we  undertook, 
Taught  us  all  profoundly  scientific  lore, 
And  to  love  our  studies  daily  more  and  more. 
Long  may  he  live  to  honor  his  Alma  Mater's  call, 
Our  noble  state  geologist,  our  loved  Professor  Hall  ! 

Then  there  was  sober  House,  now  preacher  in  Siam, 

And  Smith,  who  first  controlled  and  all  our  plans  began 

With  Saunders,  so  sedate  and  innocent  in  face — 

Yet,  even  in  a  frolic,  foremost  in  the  race  ; 

Rude,  witty  Woodruff,  ever  sharp  and  sly, 

With  schemes  of  fun  and  jollity  lurking  in  his  eye  ; 

Stout,  thoughtful  Crocker,  studious  and  discreet, 

Born  to  "  go  West "  and  fill  a  judge's  seat ; 

Van  Rensselaer,  a  son  of  the  old  patroon, 

Related  also  to  the  man  i'  the  moon, 

With  many  others  since  of  wealth  and  fame, 

But  quite  too  numerous  for  me  to  name. 

Lastly  myself — but  such  a  stammering  youth, 

'T  was  hard  at  times  for  me  to  speak  the  truth  ! 

And  much  I  owe  to  good  Professor  Hall, 

Who  helped  me  when  /  could  not  speak  at  all. 

But  all  is  over  now,  and  forty  years 

Have  closed  the  records  of  our  hopes  and  fears, 

Ambitious  passions  and  the  boisterous  joys 

That  marked  our  college  life  when  we  were  boys  ; 

Gone,  those  sweet  visits  to  the  neighboring  school, 

Where  fair  young  ladies  fell  in  love  by  rule, 

While  we  assisted  in  the  chemist's  art, 

And  heard  their  lessons  with  an  amorous  heart ; 

Or,  at  the  church,  the  sermon  less  would  prize 

Than  the  bright  glances  of  their  sparkling  eyes. 

Thus  memory  loves  to  dwell  upon  the  past, 

On  scenes  too  fragile  and  too  fair  to  last, 

But  let  us  turn  to  that  memorial  stone 

So  lately  raised  for  him  whose  virtues  shone 

Conspicuous  along  our  youth's  career, 

And  now  demands  a  tributary  tear. 

Sleep,  noble  Eaton  !  in  thine  honored  rest, 

No  anxious  cares  to  pain  thy  peaceful  breast, 

But  grateful  words  in  granite  shall  proclaim 

Our  lasting  reverence  for  thy  worthy  name  ! 

All  honor  to  our  Alma  Mater,  where 

Grand  monuments  of  skill  their  source  declare. 


HENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  109 

The  Pulpit,  Law  and  Medicine  here  combine 
And  lay  their  laurels  on  her  hallowed  shrine. 
Her  Architects  and  Engineers  with  pride, 
Point  to  their  paths  o'er  many  a  roaring  tide  ; 
Niagara  and  Brooklyn  long  will  tell 
How  science  here  matures  her  students  well, 
And  sends  them  forth  to  bless  the  waiting  earth, 
And  make  their  country  prouder  for  their  birth  ; 
While  now  one  brilliant  more  adorns  her  crown, 
In  her  illustrious  present  chief,  Charles  Drowne, 
And  may  he  long  enjoy  his  merited  renown. 


Professor  Nason  then  stated  that  contrary  to  the  usual 
order  of  exercises,  he  wished  to  announce  and  introduce 
first,  the  class  of  '74  graduates  elect.  He  therefore  called 
upon  Mr.  Enrique  C.  Zegarra  of  that  class,  who  presented 
to  the  association  a  petition  addressed  to  Professor  W.  L. 
Adams  signed  by  all  the  students  of  the  Institute. 

"  We,  the  undersigned  members  of  the  Rensselaer  Poly- 
technic Institute,  having  the  good  of  the  Institution  at 
heart,  and  believing  that  its  best  interests  demand  the  con- 
tinuance of  Professor  W.  L.  Adams  in  the  chair  of  geodesy 
and  road  engineering,  would  respectfully  request  him  to  re- 
consider his  reported  determination  to  withdraw  from  the 
faculty." 

The  petition  elicited  long  continued  applause,  showing 
the  heart  of  the  petitioners  to  be  in  their  work,  and  the 
hearts  of  the  assembly  to  be  with  them. 

Professor  Nason  moved  that  the  names  of  the  faculty  and 
the  entire  alumni  association  be  considered  as  appended  to 
the  list  of  these  petitioners. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried  with  unbounded 
applause. 

Professor  Adams  being  called  upon,  said  that  it  was  as 
much  a  surprise  as  a  pleasure  to  him  to  learn  that  he  had 
succeeded  so  well  in  finding  his  way  to  the  hearts  of  his 


HO  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

pupils.  He  thanked  them  for'  the  kind  expression  of  their 
feelings  and  their  interest  in  his  continued  connection  with 
the  Institute. 

William  Gurley,  president  of  the  association  spoke  in 
favor  of  the  petitioners,  adding  that  he  knew  of  no  one  who 
could  better  fill  the  chair  of  Geodesy  and  Road  Engineering 
than  Professor  Adams. 

The  petition  was  adopted  as  the  sentiment  of  the  entire 
association. 

Professor  Nason  after  giving  a  short  sketch  of  the  life  and 
services  of  his  predecessor  in  the  chair  of  chemistry, 
Professor  William  Elderhorst  announced  his  desire  to  have 
placed  for  him  a  memorial  window  in  the  Hall  of  the  Insti- 
tute. A  large  number  of  the  former  pupils  and  friends  of 
Professor  Elderhorst  being  present,  the  amount  needed, 
$140,  was  immediately  subscribed. 

Hon.  John  H.  White,  of  New  York,  then  compared  his 
being  called  upon  for  a  speech,  after  this  week  of  festivities, 
to  another  dinner  after  the  excellent  one  just  participated  in 
by  those  present.  He  said,  however,  he  would  notice  the  fact 
that  it  appeared  to  him  very  much  of  a  fraud  to  call  him  a 
graduate,  when  he  looked  over  the  present  curriculum,  for 
he  learned  in  one  year  what  the  students  now  learn  in  four. 
He  thought  this  looked  like  retrograding  instead  of  advanc- 
ing. 

Speeches  of  congratulation,  incident  and  reminiscences 
were  made  by  W.  W.  Walker,  and  C.  E.  Martin,  of  the  class 
of  1856,  Professor  E.  N.  Horsford,  class  of  1838,  Clark 
Fisher,  Chief  Engineer  United  States  navy,  class  of  1858, 
Rev.  Dr.  William  Irvin,  of  Troy,  Professor  W.  H.  Searles, 
class  of  1860,  Professor  David  M.  Greene,  Division  Engin- 
eer New  York  State  Canals,  class  of  1851,  and  Frederic 
Grinnell,  Esq.,  class  of  1855. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  m 

Professor  Nason  then  made  a  short  speech,  in  which  he 
alluded  to  the  valuable  services  of  the  present  Director  of 
the  Institute,  Professor  Charles  Browne,  and  paid  a  very 
handsome  compliment  to  the  former  Director  of  the  Insti- 
tute, Professor  B.  Franklin  Greene,  of  the  Bureau  of  Steam 
Navigation  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  following  committee  was  then  appointed  for  the  excur- 
sion to  Saratoga :  Hon.  J.  H.  White,  Professor  E.  N.  Hors- 
ford,  Professor  D.  M.  Greene,  Hon.  Norman  Stratton,  and 
Charles  P.  Perkins,  Esq. 

A  resolution  was  then  adopted  instructing  the  Secretary 
to  prepare  and  publish  as  soon  as  convenient  full  records  of 
the  proceedings  of  this  semi-centennial  celebration  of  the 
Institute. 

The  exercises  continued  until  a  late  hour  in  the  after- 
noon, when  the  alumni  and  students  separated  with  the 
fraternal  tie  that  binds  them  together,  as  sons  of  the  Rens- 
selaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  renewed  and  strengthened  by 
this  agreeable  occasion  of  social  intercourse. 

The  music  for  the  occasion  was  furnished  by.Doring's 
band,  and  was  all  that  could  be  desired. 


1  12  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


RAND'S  HALL,  8  O'CLOCK,  P.  M. 


FORTY-EIGHTH  ANNUAL  COMMENCEMENT. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES. 


OVERTURE — L?  Italiana  in  Algeri, Rossini. 

Prayer  by  Rev.  WILLIAM  IRVIN,  D.  D. 

SERENADE — Cornet  and  Flute  Obligate, Tittl. 

Report  of  Academic  Board,  Prof.  CHARLES  DROWNE,  Director. 

POLKA — Pizzicato, Strauss. 

Conferring  of  Degrees. 

FANTASIE — Jagd, Zikoff. 

Address  to  Graduates  by  Hon.  JAMES  FORSYTH,  President. 

WALTZ —  Wiener  Wald, Strauss. 

Benediction,  by  Rev.  GEORGE  N.  WEBBER,  D.  D. 

MARCH  AND  CHORUS — Tannhauser, Wagner. 

Music  by  DORING'S  BAND. 

CANDIDATES  FOR  DEGREE  OF  CIVIL  ENGINEER. 


JAMES  N.  CALDWELL,  JR., Carthage,  O. 

GEORGE  W.  CARNRICK, Troy,  N.  Y. 

LYMAN  E.  COOLEY, Canandaigua,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  J.  FABIAN, Lake  Forest,  111. 

FRANK  L.  FORD, East  Cleveland,  O. 

ALEXANDER  P.  GEST, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GEORGE  S.  GRIFFEN, Phcenixville,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  P.  MASON, New  York  City. 

HARRY  D.  PATTISON, Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  H.  POWLESS, Norwood,  N.  J. 

ENRIQUE  C.  ZEGARRA, Piura,  Peru. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


ADDRESS  BY  HON.  JAMES  FORSYTH, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  INSTITUTE. 


It  is  one  of  the  positive  regulations  of  the  Institute  that 
the  president  shall  address  the  graduating  class.  This  is 
the  reason  for  detaining  this  audience  a  few  minutes  on 
topics  which  at  this  time  concern  the  Institute,  and  then 
with  a  brief  review  of  its  origin,  rise  and  progress. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Graduating  Class  : 

The  fact  that  there  have  been  sixty-three  men  on  the  rolls 
of  your  class  since  its  admission  to  the  Institute,  and  that 
your  present  number  is  reduced  to  eleven,  suggests  matters 
for  consideration  as  to  the  policy  of  the  Institute.  First, 
ought  not  there  to  be  a  higher  requirement  for  admission  to 
the  Institute  ?  Or,  if  that  is  impracticable,  Second,  ought 
not  the  course  to  be  lengthened  to  five  years  ?  Either  prop- 
osition would  take  off  from  the  poorly  prepared  something- 
of  the  severity  and  sharpness  of  the  course.  Third,  Is  the 
course  of  study  really  too  severe  ?  It  would  seem  that  this 
is  not  well  objected,  when  we  have  so  much  time  to  devote 
to  boating,  ball  playing  and  other  games  and  amusements. 
To  the  second,  it  may  be  replied  that  all  our  collegiate 
courses  of  study  are  fixed  at  four  years,  and  that  it  would 
be  difficult  for  this  school  to  extend  its  course  beyond  that 
time.  It  would  encounter  a  strong  prejudice  in  young  men, 
who,  especially  in  this  country,  regard  four  years  as  enough 
to  be  used  up  in  getting  a  professional  education. ' 

Besides,  the  additional  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  cost  to 
the  student  would  be  a  consideration  of  controlling  effect  in 
looking  towards  the  Institute  for  his  degree.  Some  young 
men  of  means,  who  are  not  obliged  to  go  to  work  for  a  liv- 
ing immediately,  may  and  sometimes  do  take  the  fifth  year 
to  complete  the  present  course,  to  the  saving  of  the  health 


114  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

and  strength  ;  but  the  prevailing  desire  is  to  accomplish  the 
course  in  four  years.  To  the  first  it  must  be  replied  that 
the  requirements  for  admission  should  be  raised,  at  least 
more  rigidly  enforced. 

Look  at  this  slaughter  of  fifty-two  out  of  sixty-three 
young  men  who  ought  to  be  here  to-day  to  graduate !  And 
the  roll  of  the  missing  is  made  up  entirely  of  those  who 
were  poorly  prepared  to  enter.  The  course  of  study  is 
within  the  reach  of  any  young  man  of  fair  talents  and 
industry  if  he  is  fairly  prepared  to  enter  upon  it.  And  it  is 
entirely  beyond  his  reach  or  the  reach  of  any  one  unless  he 
has  peculiar  gifts  and  qualifications  for  a  scientific  and 
mathematical  course,  or  has  made  preparation  with  refer- 
ence to  the  course  of  study.  It  is  a  fearful  ordeal.  And 
the  most  trying  of  all  the  duties  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Insti- 
tute is  that  of  deciding  who  shall  fall  out  after  all  their  care 
and  solicitude,  and  the  anxiety  of  the  young  men  to  keep 
along  even  under  conditions. 

Those  who  have  experience  in  such  matters  will  acknowl- 
edge that  it  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  keep  up  the  standard 
of  scholarship.  The  Faculty  are  not  destitute  of  feeling 
and  sympathy  and  there  is  a  constant  appeal  to  relax  the 
rule.  There  is  an  amicable  desire  to  help  young  men  along 
in  the  different  departments  by  marks,  so  as  to  secure  a  good 
average  over  the  whole  course.  It  springs  from  the  kind- 
liest motives.  But  after  all  it  is  not  a  mercy  to  the  student, 
and  it  is  a  hurt  to  the  Institute.  It  is  said  to  be  "  rough  " 
to  keep  a  young  man  in  the  Institute  for  three  years  and  a 
half  and  then  tell  him  he  cannot  graduate.  It  is  unpleasant, 
to  say  the  least,  for  the  Faculty  to  do  such  a  thing,  and  it  is 
not  done,  except  it  is  in  their  judgment  for  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  Institute  to  keep  up  its  grade  of  scholarship. 

The  Institute  is  a  technical  school,  its  specialty  is  to  make 
civil  engineers,  and  it  was  long  since  resolved  that  to  entitle 
a  man  to  that  degree  certain  things  indicated  in  the  course 
of  study  must  be  known  and  shown  by  examination. 
Again,  suppose  the  young  man  cannot  pass  and  take  his 
degree,  has  he  lost  his  outlay  of  time  and  money  ?  By  no 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  115 

means  !  The  Institute  has  given  him  his  money's  worth 
every  day  he  has  been  in  it. 

Not  a  few  of  our  under-graduates — those  who  did  not  get 
degrees — have  become  distinguished  men  in  their  profes- 
sions, never  forgetting  to  acknowledge  the  scientific  teach- 
ing and  drill  they  received  at  the  Institute.  To  a  man  of 
real  abilities  and  acquirements,  what  is  the  diploma  to  him? 
A  piece  of  evidence  which  he  never  wants  to  use.  But  to 
men  of  the  other  sort,  a  piece  of  evidence  which  must  be 
often  paraded  by  them  to  show,  for  the  want  of  other  proof, 
that  they  had  ever  been  in  the  Institute  at  all.  This  parch- 
ment does  n't  make  the  man — it  is  only  evidence  that  he  is 
made — and  here  is  the  pinch  which  we  have  to  pass  through. 
Shall  the  Institute,  with  just  a  little  character  to  lose, 
jeopardize  it  all  by  conferring  its  degress  on  young  men, 
who  cannot  pass  its  examinations,  and  are  not  worthy  of  it  ? 
And  that,  too,  on  the  ground  that  they  have  been  here  so 
long,  behaved  so  well,  and  paid  their  fees  so  promptly. 
How  long  would  the  Institute  last  at  that  rate  ?  How  long 
would  any  young  man  think  it  worth  while  to  come  to  Troy 
for  such  a  cheap  thing. 

We  forget  that  the  scientific  life  and  high  character  of 
this  school  are  of  more  value  to  the  country  than  whole 
divisions  of  students  cut  off  from  it  because  they  were 
unable  to  master  its  course.  We  are  in  a  position  where  we 
can  get  along  without  students  better  than  we  can  get  along 
without  character.  After  fifty  years  of  building  up  we  can- 
not afford  to  trifle  with  our  character. 

The  case  is  different  from  that  of  the  college  or  university. 
At  college  a  liberal  education  is  obtained,  and  a  man  may 
be  entitled  as  a  liberally  educated  man,  and  often  takes  a 
bachelor's  degree  because  he  is  a  good  linguist,  a  good 
belles-lettres  scholar,  a  fine  writer  and  elocutionist,  while 
he  has  accomplished  only  half  the  course,  and  mathematics 
and  science  have  been  his  abomination  all  the  way  through. 
Such  a  person  often  gets  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  and 
is  sent  forth  as  a  liberally  educated  man.  At  the  Institute 
we  do  not  propose  any  such  sort  of  personage  as  the  liber- 


Il6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

ally  educated  man.  Our  objective  is  the  civil  engineer. 
Young  men  come  here  to  be  made  engineers,  and  we  must 
make  them,  and  we  cannot  graduate  half  a  man  or  one  who 
has  accomplished  but  half  the  course.  Our  specialty  is  civil 
engineers,  and  we  must  make  a  good  article  of  its  kind  or 
we  cannot  rule  the  market. 

We  have  a  course  of  study  which  (except  in  tactics,  gun- 
nery and  fortifications)  is  equal  to,  if  not  higher,  than  that 
at  West  Point  military  academy.  The  only  capital  we  have 
is  our  reputation,  and  that  has  been  earned  by  a  high  scien- 
tific course  of  study  held  up,  and  by  the  work  and  drill 
required  to  accomplish  it.  Nothing  else  will  sustain  us; 
gifts,  bequests,  foundations  are  all  in  vain.  Some  men  have 
not  the  stamina  for  this.  They  may  not  be  to  blame;  but 
the  Institute  is  not  the  place  for  them.  It  cannot  graduate 
them.  If  the  Institute  is  to  go  down — let  it  go  down  with 
its  standard  of  education  full  high  advanced,  streaming 
against  the  wind  of  popular  clamor  for  an  easier  way  to  get 
through  the  Institute.  Confidently  asserting  the  principles 
which  have  blessed  it  with  success,  let  it  go  down,  if  need 
be,  with  no  such  self-reproaches.  It  will  have  accomplished 
enough  to  secure  an  epitaph. 

The  Hon.  Jonas  C.  Heartt,  died  on  the  3oth  day  of 
April,  1874.  In  this  presence  no  eulogy  could  add  to  his 
stature  in  your  estimation.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the  Insti- 
tute. 

Nothing  has  occurred  during  the  past  year  to  disturb  the 
general  good  order  of  the  Institute,  or  the  peaceful  and 
pleasant  relations  existing  between  trustees,  faculty  and 
students.  Discipline  has  been  maintained,  and  the  work 
has  been  thorough. 

Besides  these  honors,  as  graduates,  you  bear  with  you  our 
best  wishes  for  your  success  in  the  world. 

To  the  Alumni  and  Friends  :  The  trustees  of  the  Rens- 
selaer  Polytechnic  Institute  may  as  well  confess  that  in  the 
past  fifty  years'  experience  and  practice  of  the  school,  the 
original  idea  of  the  founder  has  been  widely  departed  from. 
It  is  not  known  that  this  is  the  subject  of  regret  in  any 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


117 


quarter.  It  is  quite  certain  that  no  moneyed  trusts  have 
been  forfeited  or  endangered  by  this  departure.  Natural 
science,  botany,  chemistry,  zoology,  mineralogy,  land  sur- 
veying, were  at  first  the  principal  objects  of  the  school  to 
teach.  We  would  now  hold  out  to  the  world  that  we  are  a 
technical  school,  having  one  object  as  our  specialty — the 
making  of  civil  engineers.  All  minor  degrees  are  discard- 
ed, maintaining  that  the  greater  includes  the  less.  The 
idea  of  the  founder  was  the  diffusion  of  moderate  acquire- 
ments in  science,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  soils, 
among  his  rude  and  illiterate  tenantry  on  the  manor  of 
Rensselaerwyck.  He  saw  the  progress  of  agriculture  in  its 
lowest  state  among  tKem,  and  he  sought  to  bring  it  up. 
But  he  was  also  willing  and  anxious  that  his  attempt  should 
not  be  circumscribed.  He  instigated  the  preparation  of  a 
class  of  teachers  in  many  of  the  counties  and  towns  of  the 
state,  who  should  be  able  to  instruct  those  who  felt  inter- 
ested in  scientific  subjects  and  pursuits  of  the  primitive  and 
ruder  sort.  Those  seeds  of  his  sowing  forty  and  fifty  years 
ago,  have  been  an  incalculable  blessing.  But  he  never  con- 
ceived of  this  school  as  it  stands  to-day.  He  died  in  1839, 
when  the  school  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  it  then  was  un- 
certain whether  it  had  a  season  to  live  or  not.  His  idea 
was  a  pure  charity.  It  was  for  poor  men  who  could  not 
pay  much,  if  any  tuition. 

To-day  this  may  be  considered  an  expensive  school. 
Some  of  those  here  present  have  passed  through  college  at 
less  cost  than  some  of  our  students  expend  in  one  year  at 
this  school.  Two  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  tuition,  is  as 
much  as  some  of  you  paid  for  four  years'  tuition  at  college. 
Board  then,  for.  forty  weeks,  cost  $80  or  $100,  and  books, 
room  rent,  and  other  things  were  in  proportion.  The  pat- 
ron and  founder  was  also  a  pioneer,  and  his  steps  were  cau- 
tious and  slow,  his  measures  simple  and  direct,  and  his  in- 
strumentalities rude  and  imperfect.  But  his  idea  and  object 
was  to  bring  science  within  the  reach  of  the  masses  of  the 
people,  to  popularize  it,  and  extend  to  them  its  advantages 
and  economies. 


Il8  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

The  great  movement  in  England  to  popularize  science, 
and  to  introduce  economy  and  skill  in  the  use  of  the  mate- 
rials of  living  among  the  poor,  started  about  twenty-five 
years  before  the  founding  of  this  school,  and  it  is  not  un- 
likely had  the  effect  to  direct  attention  in  this  country  to 
the  same  subject.  The  Royal  Institution,  of  London,  was 
founded  and  chartered  in  the  year  1800,  and  seems  to  have 
been  a  model  of  which  our  school  was  a  distant  imitation  in 
a  new  country  and  amongst  a  comparatively  poor  people. 
It  is  a  source  of  pride  to  us  that  an  institution  which  has 
reflected  so  much  of  the  light  of  science  over  the  world, 
and  which  was  in  many  respects  the  model  of  our  own,  was 
also  founded  by  an  American.  Th?  Royal  Institution,  of 
London,  was  founded  by  a  New  England  man  by  the  name 
of  Benjamin  Thompson,  better  known  as  Count  Rumford 
in  the  scientific  world.  Thompson  was  born  at  Woburn, 
near  Boston,  Mass.,  in  1753,  was  a  man  of  genius,  and  had 
both  a  checkered  and  brilliant  career.  He  lived  for  a  time 
and  taught  school  in  the  town  of  Rumford,  the  ancient 
name  of  the  present  town  of  Concord,  the  capital  of  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire.  Here  he  married  his  first  wife 
when  he  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age.  Thirty-two  years 
later, — having  meantime  left  his  native  country  and  become 
a  savant  of  European  reputation, — he  married  in  Paris,  for 
his  second  wife,  the  widow  of  the  celebrated  French  chem- 
ist Lavoisier.  From  this  town's  old  name  he  chose  his  title, 
and  was  made  "  Count  Rumford  "  by  the  Elector  of  Bava- 
ria in  1791.  Thompson  was  not  a  rebel  against  King 
George  III.,  but  a  loyalist  at  the  opening  of  the  strife.  For 
some  imprudent  remarks  on  politics,  his  neighbors  in  Rum- 
ford  made  it  unpleasant  for  him  to  reside  at  that  place — 
such  is  toleration  in  war  times — and  he  left  and  went  abroad 
and  entered  the  military  service  of  the  king,  by  whom  he 
was  knighted.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  has  never 
been  estimated  in  this  country  for  what  he  was  worth  as  a 
scientific  man.  He  has  lately  found  a  biographer  in  Bos- 
ton, and  a  favorable  notice  in  one  of  the  quarterly  reviews. 
There  is  no  absolution  for  certain  political  sins.  Even  the 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  119 

lustre  of  that  other  great  name,  contemporary  with  him  and 
likewise  notable  in  science,  would  have  been  dimmed  in 
our  estimation  by  such  a  political  course — even  the  name  of 
Benjamin  Franklin. 

Rumford  was  an  enthusiast  in  carrying  the  results  of  sci- 
ence to  the  aid  of  the  poorer  classes.  While  in  Munich  he 
wrote  much  on  the  subject  of  economy  in  the  use  of  food 
and  fuel.  He  visited  London  in  1795  to  publish  his  essays, 
and  he  observed  the  wasteful  consumption  of  both  food 
and  fuel  in  England.  He  looked  up  to  the  cloud  of  smoke 
overhanging  London,  and  said  that  from  the  materials  of 
heat  thus  thrown  away,  and  made  a  curse  instead  of  a  bless- 
ing, he  could  cook  all  the  food,  warm  every  room,  and  do 
all  the  mechanical  work  performed  by  fire  in  the  metropolis. 
Cuvier  said  of  him,  in  view  of  his  work  in  behalf  of  the 
poor,  and  in  the  advancement  of  science,  that  Rumford  was 
the  only  man  who  took  the  same  path  for  getting  into  heaven 
and  into  the  French  Academy. 

In  1799,  Thompson  (Count  Rumford),  being  in  London, 
published  a  pamphlet  of  fifty  pages,  which  led  to  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Royal  Institution.  It  was  entitled,  "  Propo- 
sals for  forming  by  subscriptions,  in  the  metropolis  of  the 
British  empire,  a  public  institution  for  diffusing  the  knowl- 
edge and  facilitating  the  general  introduction  of  useful  me- 
chanical inventions  and  improvements,  and  for  teaching, 
by  courses  of  philosophical  lectures  and  experiments,  the  ap- 
plication of  science  to  the  common  purposes  of  life."  The 
object  was  explained  to  be  the  bringing  together  of  science 
and  the  art  of  workingmen,  and  establishing  relations  of 
helpful  intercourse  between  philosophers  and  practical  arti- 
sans. Agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  and  domestic 
comforts,  were  to  be  studied  and  improved. 

Now  to  verify  the  assertion  that  this  school  was  prompted 
by  and  after  a  sort  modeled  upon  the  plan  of  the  royal  in- 
stitution of  Count  Rumford,  let  us  hear  the  proposals  of  the 
founder  of  this  school  twenty-five  years  later.  In  the  letter 
of  the  founder  (Stephen  Van  Rensselaer)  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Blatchford,  dated  November  5th,  1824,  he  says:  "I  have 


120  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

i. 

established  a  school  at  the  north  end  of  Troy,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  instructing  persons  who  may  choose  to  apply  them- 
selves in  the  application  of  science  to  the  common  purposes 
of  life.  My  principal  object  is  to  qualify  teachers  for  in- 
structing sons  and  daughters  of  farmers  and  mechanics,  by 
lectures  or  otherwise,  on  the  application  of  experimental 
chemistry,  philosophy  and  natural  history,  to  agriculture, 
domestic  economy,  the  arts  and  manufactures.  From  trials 
which  have  been  made,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  com- 
petent instructors  maybe  produced  in  the  school  at  Troy,who 
will  be  highly  useful  to  the  community  in  the  diffusion  of  a 
very  useful  kind  of  knowledge,  with  its  application  to  the 
business  of  living."  Thus  it  is  seen  the  two  institutions 
had  their  origin  in  a  like  impulse,  both  having  the  same 
object,  namely  :  the  popularization  of  science,  or  as  the 
prospectus  of  the  first  stated  it,  "  the  application  of  sciences 
to  the  common  purposes  of  life,"  the  very  words  of  which 
statement  were  adopted  in  the  prospectus  of  the  second. 

At  a  period  in  history  in  which  the  intercommunication 
was  not  so  rapid  as  now  between  England  and  this  country, 
and  the  interchange  and  progress  of  ideas  much  slower  than 
at  present ;  when,  according  to  William  Gobbet,  it  took  fifty 
years  for  an  idea  to  penetrate  the  house  of  commons,  it  was 
no  small  progress  made  by  our  founder  and  patron,  when  in 
less  than  twenty-five  years  after  the  Royal  Institution  of 
London  was  chartered,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  this  school. 
Since  that  time  the  railroad,  steamship  and  telegraph  have 
been  added  to  the  means  of  communication,  and  the  power 
of  the  press  has  been  immeasurably  increased. 

Vastly  different  in  the  circumstances  of  their  inception 
were  the  two  institutions.  One  opened  in  spacious  apart- 
ments in  Albemarle  street,  London,  and  was  patronized  by 
the  great,  wealthy  and  fashionable,  with  an  admission  fee  of 
fifty  guineas.  And  such  was  the  rage  for  attending  its 
scientific  lectures,  that  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  sub- 
scription in  its  aid  amounted  to  £24,000.  Besides  Rumford, 
who  lived  in  the  premises,  there  was  Humphrey  Davy,  di- 
rector of  the  laboratory,  and  assistant  professor  of  chemis- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  I2I 

try,  earning  fame  for  himself,  on  a  salary  of  one  hundred 
guineas  a  year.  And  Dr.  Thomas  Young,  styled  by  an 
Edinburgh  reviewer,  the  apostle  of  the  undulatory  theory  of 
light,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Garnett,  with  others,  were  on  the  first 
roll  of  lecturers.  Subsequently,  these  places  have  been 
filled  by  such  men  as  Michael  Faraday  and  Professor  Tyn- 
dall,  who  lately  visited  this  country. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  school  opened  in  1824,  "  at  the 
north  end  of  Troy,"  a  phrase  sufficiently  indefinite  to  indi- 
cate its  uncertain  and  migratory  character.  It  was,  how- 
ever, localized  for  a  time  in  the  "  old  bank  place  "  on  River 
street,  near  the  east  end  of  the  dam, — so  far  as  such  a 
school  as  it  then  was,  with  Amos  Eaton  for  its  "  senior  pro- 
fessor "  and  controlling  spirit,  of  itinerant  habits  and  meth- 
ods of  studying  natural  science,  can  be  said  to  have  been 
localized  at  all — in  an  ill-adapted  place,  with  only  small 
apparatus  of  the  ruder  sort — with  no  subscriptions,  no 
money,  no  attendants  but  the  poor  young  searchers  after 
knowledge,  who  followed  the  Professor  in  his  botanical  and 
mineralogical  excursions  across  the  country,  and  returned 
to  the  "  old  bank  place  "  to  find  the  whole  faculty  of  the 
school  there  embodied  in  the  person  of  Professor  Amos 
Eaton — guide,  philosopher  and  lecturer. 

The  lecture  system,  it  will  be  observed,  was  the  method 
first  adopted  in  each.  It  is  with  science  as  with  politics, 
agitation  begins  and  an  interest  is  awakened  by  talk.  And 
in  the  hands  of  zealous,  devoted,  enthusiastic  young  men 
there  is  no  subject  which  may  not  secure  a  hearing. 

In  tracing  similitudes,  let  us  not  forget  to  mention,  what 
has  no  doubt  occurred  to  all  present,  in  surveying  the  rise 
and  progress  of  these  two  institutions,  that  both  were  in  the 
initiatory  and  formative  period  of  each,  guided  and  con- 
trolled by  men  of  scientific  genius,  eccentric  in  character, 
and  enthusiasts  in  their  profession — just  that  order  of  men 
who  set  the  world  ahead  in  whatever  pursuits  they  may  be 
engaged — Count  Rumford  and  Professor  Amos  Eaton,  both 
Americans. 
16 


122  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

AMOS   E^ATON. 

No  apology  is  offered  for  a  moment's  digression,  to  briefly 
review  the  career  of  Professor  Amos  Eaton,  so  thoroughly 
identified  with  this  school  for  the  first  eighteen  years  of  its 
existence,  before  a  generation  of  men  who  know  his  fame, 
but  who  have  little  knowledge  of  his  personal  history. 
Amos  Eaton  was  born  in  the  town  of  Chatham,  Columbia 
County,  New  York,  on  the  zyth  of  May,  1776.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  and  a  highly  respected  citizen  of  that  town. 
The  son  early  manifested  superior  ability  and  high  aspira- 
tions. At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  had  made  himself  a  practi- 
cal land  surveyor,  making  his  own  magnetic  needle  and 
compass  case  out  of  the  rude  material  at  hand.  With  the 
encouragement  of  his  parents  he  fitted  for  college,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three  he  graduated  at  Williams  College  in 
1799,  with  a  high  reputation  for  his  scientific  attainments. 
He  commenced  the  study  of  law  with  Elisha  Williams,  in 
Columbia  County,  soon  after  graduating,  and  continued  the 
study  of  law  in  New  York  in  the  office  of  Josiah  Ogden 
Hoffman.  It  was  in  New  York  that  he  came  under  the  in- 
struction of  Dr.  Hosack  and  Dr.  Mitchell,  and  became 
interested  in  botany  and  other  natural  sciences  to  such  a 
degree  that  he  never  could  wholly  resist  the  sway  of  his 
enthusiasm  for  those  pursuits.  He  was  admitted  an  attorney 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State  at  Albany  in  1802,  and 
located  as  lawyer  and  land  agent  at  Catskill.  Here  he  gave 
his  first  course  of  popular  lectures  on  botany,  and  prepared 
a  small  elementary  treatise  on  the  subject.  He  attended  lec- 
tures at  New  Haven  in  1815.  In  1817  he  returned  to  Wil- 
liamstown  and  gave  lectures  to  the  students  on  botany, 
mineralogy  and  geology.  The  first  edition  of  his  "  Manual 
of  Botany"  was  published  this  year.  He  continued  his  public 
lectures  in  the  large  towns  of  New  England  and  New  York, 
exciting  great  attention  and  interest  in  the  natural  sciences. 
In  1818  Governor  Dewitt  Clinton  invited  him  to  Albany, 
and  he  gave  a  course  of  lectures  before  the  members  of  the 
Legislature.  In  1820  he  was  appointed  professor  of  natural 
history  in  the  medical  college  at  Castleton,  Vt.,  and  deliv- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  123 

ered  several  courses  of  lectures  there.  About  this  time  he 
seems  to  have  settled  down,  and  made  his  home  in  Troy, 
and  extended  his  system  of  instruction  to  the  people,  and, 
with  the  co-operation  of  many  of  the  citizens  at  that  time, 
the  "  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  "  was  formed,  and  one  of 
the  most  extensive  collections  of  American  geological  speci- 
mens in  the  whole  country  was  gathered  and  arranged.  He 
also  made  geological  and  agricultural  surveys  of  the  counties 
of  Rensselaer  and  Albany,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Hon.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  and  also  a  geological  survey 
of  the  district  of  country  on  the  line  of  the  Erie  canal,  the 
result  of  which  was  embodied  in  a  report  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pages,  published  in  1824,  which  report  has  re- 
ceived the  commendation  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  men 
of  the  State.  In  1824  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  established 
this  school,  and  Amos  Eaton  was  placed  at  the  head  of  its 
faculty  as  senior  professor,  and  the  remainder  of  his  life 
was  devoted  to  it.  During  this  period  he  published  several 
scientific  works  of  great  value.  He  died  in  this  city/m  the 
6th  of  May,  1842. 

Besides  his  habit  of  field  explorations  and  actual  insight, 
his  system  of  teaching  was  peculiar  and  successful.  He 
maintained  that  the  teacher  learns  more  in  teaching  than 
the  scholar,  and,  therefore,  he  made  each  scholar  a 
teacher  and  lecturer  of  his  classmates.  Each  man  was 
required  to  tell  what  he  knew  on  a  particular  topic  to  his 
classmates  in  presence  of  the  professor.  Thus  he  awakened 
a  zeal  for  investigation,  and  by  speaking  made  the  ready 
man. 

Thirty  years  after  the  earth  closed  over  him,  science 
demanded  some  suitable  recognition  of  one  of  its  favorite 
sons.  A  monument  over  his  grave  in  Oakwood  and  a 
memorial  window  in  the  .great  hall  of  the  Institute,  now 
testify  to  the  gratitude  of  his  pupils,  and  to  his  fame  as  a 
philosopher  and  teacher. 

The  Royal  Institution,  under  the  patronage  of  the  crown 
and  of  the  wealthy,  and  through  its  published  transactions, 
has  a  world  wide  renown.  Its  sphere  is  in  the  highest  walks 


124  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

of  science  and  discovery,  and,  as  an  educator,  comes  within 
the  reach  of  the  few  who  are  already  learned.  So  changed 
is  it  from  its  original  scope  and  design,  that  it  may  be  doubt- 
ful whether  Count  Rumford  revived  would  recognize  it. 

The  Rensselaer  School,  so  rude  and  simple  in  its  begin- 
nings, is  likewise  so  changed  from  its  original  scope  and  de- 
sign that,  probably,  neither  the  founder  nor  Professor  Eaton 
would  be  able  to  recognize  it  were  they  present  at  its  first 
semi-centennial  celebration.  "  Thus  it  is,  in  the  field  of 
scientific  labor,  the  problems  which  we  propose  to  solve 
expand  beyond  the  forms  from  which  we  start,  and  yield 
results  as  fruitful  and  surprising  as  the  growth  of  an  un- 
known plant  from  a  seed  cast  into  the  ground."  With 
devout  thankfulness  to  the  source  of  all  blessings,  we  ask  in 
humble  acknowledgement  and  trust  for  the  continuance  of 
the  same. 

The  Institute  was  never  so  prosperous  as  on  this,  the 
fiftieth  year  of  its  existence.  Its  catalogue  shows  an  attend- 
ance afr  present  of  more  than  two  hundred  students.  It  is 
to  be  considered  whether  or  not  it  is  expedient  to  take 
students  beyond  that  number,  should  they  come.  Our 
conveniences  and  facilities  are  not  adequate  to  any  more. 
Besides,  that  number  seems  to  be  the  point  of  economy  for 
us.  If  we  overgo  that  number,  it  involves  an  increase  of 
our  faculty  of  instructors,  to  pay  for  which  the  probable 
small  increase  of  students  beyond  that  number  would  be 
insufficient.  Again,  we  cannot  always  be  so  prosperous. 
The  financial  situation  of  the  country  is  felt  quite  sensibly 
by  the  patrons  of  the  Institute,  and  the  number  of  students 
is  increased  or  diminished  by  it. 

The  Institute,  thanks  to  its  devoted  friends,  is  out  of  debt 
and  owns  a  good  property,  well  adapted  to  its  purposes,  and 
now  pays  its  own  way.  Besides  it  has  an  invested  fund  of 
$20,000.  When  its  friends  begin  to  see  that  it  has  a  prin- 
ciple of  permanence  in  it — that  it  is  not  likely  to  be  swept 
away — then  they  will  begin  to  make  gifts  and  bequests  to  it. 
Not,  it  is  hoped,  for  the  endowment  of  well  paid  lazy  pro- 
fessorships, or  for  cheapening  tuition,  or  for  making  it  free 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  12$ 

— for  it  tends  towards  indifferent  work,  a  lack  of  drill  and 
scholarship — but  for  the  erection  of  buildings,  for  additions 
to  the  library  and  the  supply  of  the  latest  and  best  appar- 
atus and  models  ;  for  we  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Insti- 
stitute  to  give  to  all  its  students  the  full  value  of  their 
money  in  the  very  best  instruction  which  can  be  obtained. 
For  the  encouragement  of  those  who  may  be  in  doubt 
about  its  permanence,  we  can  only  state  our  belief  that  the 
Institute  will  outlive  us  all.  For,  it  has  a  good  reputation 
and  is  popular  before  the  country  ;  has  a  large  alumni  of 
not  undistinguished  men  in  their  professions  and  occupa- 
tions. It  is  the  pioneer  school  of  its  kind  in  this  country, 
and  has  a  system  of  instruction  peculiarly  its  own,  which  it 
has  not  been  in  the  power  of  our  competitors  to  equal  or 
successfully  imitate.  For,  it  is  not  hide-bound  by  any  pre- 
conceived ideas  or  traditions,  nor  does  it  care  the  value  of 
the  smallest  stamp  for  old  theories  about  the  education  of 
young  men ;  it  claims  to  be  up  to  the  times,  and  to  be  in 
concert  with  what  is  called  "  The  spirit  of  the  age,"  and  to 
go  forward  with  it.  For,  it  puts  every  man  upon  its  rolls — 
not  in  leading-strings,  but  upon  his  good  behavior — and 
inculcates  self-government  in  the  individual,  having  too 
much  to  do  in  science  and  the  enforcement  of  its  course  of 
study  to  be  able  to  devote  much  time  to  elegant  manners. 
Obeying  the  rules  of  the  Institute  and  accomplishing  its 
course,  the  student  answers  our  requirements ;  beyond  that, 
he  is  a  denizen  in  our  city,  under  the  law  like  any  citizen. 
For,  taking  it  as  a  postulate  that  science  is  the  hand-maid, 
and  not  the  hater  of  religion — that  theology  is  the  sum  of 
all  the  sciences — it  is  so  entirely  unsectarian,  liberal  and  free 
to  all  tongues  and  creeds,  that  not  only  English  and  German 
speaking  people,  but  the  Latin  races  and  people  of  Mexico, 
Cuba  and  South  America,  and  the  Mongolian  races  of 
China,  India  and  Japan — Christians,  Jews,  Turks,  infidels 
and  heretics^all  meet  and  mingle  together  and  stand  upon 
an  equality  as  men  on  the  rolls  of  the  Institute.  For,  it  is 
under  the  care  and  government  of  a  board  of  trustees, 
made  up  principally  of  practical  and  business  men  of  this 


126  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

present  generation ;  and  it  proposes  to  do  no  more  than  it 
can  do  well,  and  that  in  its  own  quiet  way,  conducted  on 
business  principles,  so  that  when  its  patronage  is  cut  short 
betimes,  its  expenses  may  be  reduced  in  corresponding  ratio. 
For,,  the  Institute  is  so  grafted  into  the  hearts  of  her  sons, 
who  feel  a  pride  in  it  and  confer  a  lustre  upon  it,  that 
neither  things  present  nor  things  to  come  shall  be  able  to 
turn  them  from  their  filial  regard  and  affection  for  it.  For, 
lastly,  the  people  of  this  city  have  repeatedly  said  in  reply 
to  the  proposition  to  remove  it  :  "  That  they  will  not  part 
with  it ;  its  struggles  and  reverses  are  part  of  our  toils  and 
experiences;  its  achievements  and  successes  all  go  to  our 
renown ;  its  blessings  are  our  birthright  and  we  will  not 
sell  it." 

Therefore,  we  believe  that  the  Institute  will  outlive  us  all, 
and  be  in  time  to  come,  as  at  present,  a  famous  school — 
most  beneficent  in  its  influences,  and  the  farthest  and  most 
favorably  known  of  all  the  public  institutions  of  Troy. 

In  view  of  this  apparent  prosperity,  not  a  single  effort  is 
to  be  relaxed  to  promote  and  carry  forward  the  Institute. 
It  is,  by  no  means,  a  complete  and  finished  institution.  It 
needs  care  and  watching  continually.  It  has,  as  we  believe, 
a  grand  future  before  it,  and  it  has  a  principle  of  growth 
and  adaptation  within  it.  It  stands  alone,  like  some  thrifty 
tree,  jubilant  in  its  young  strength  and  vigor,  rooted  in  the 
soil  and  taking  its  sustenance  from  the  land  it  fertilizes  by 
its  annual  return  of  fruit  and  foliage. 

The  following  gentlemen  acted  as  ushers  :  Grand  Marshal 
W.  L.  Fox,  Messrs.  C.  F.  Carbonell,  E.  V.  Z.  Lane,  J.  J. 
Reyes,  of  the  class  of  '75 ;  A.  G.  Baker,  George  O.  Knapp, 
of  '76 ;  Benjamin  B.  Newton,  Jr.,  W.  P.  Denegre,  and 
Charles  P.  Griffith,  of  '77. 

The  following  gentlemen  had  charge  of  the  boquets  and 
flowers :  Messrs.  James  L.  Breese,  E.  Ray  Thompson,  of 
the  class  of  '75  ;  Edward  A.  Burdett,  of  '76  ;  C.  G:  Williams 
and  Walter  F.  Crosby,  of  '77. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


127 


THURSDAY,  JUNE  18. 


EXCURSION   TO    SARATOGA 


A  special  train  left  the  Union  Depot  at  9  A.  M.  It  was 
made  up  of  nine  cars  filled  with  a  party  of  nearly  five 
hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen,  composed  of  the  alumni, 
faculty,  students,  and  friends  of  the  Institute.  The  trip  was 
enlivened  with  music  by  the  Institute  Glee  Club,  while  the 
various  events  of  the  week  suggested  sufficient  number  of 
topics  for  social  chat. 

Upon  arrival  at  Saratoga,  the  party  proceeded  to  the 
Grand  Union  Hotel,  where  a  large  number  of  rooms,  its 
elegant  parlors,  spacious  ball  room,  and  still  more  beautiful 
grounds  were  thrown  open  to  the  guests.  The  morning  was 
mostly  spent  in  viewing  the  sights  of  the  village,  visiting 
the  various  hotels  and  springs,  and  drives  to  the  lake  and  in 
other  directions. 

At  one  o'clock  all  returned  from  their  wanderings  and  sat 
down  to  an  elegant  dinner,  served  in  the  spacious  dining 
hall  of  the  Grand  Union  Hotel.  After  dinner  the  party 
assembled  in  the  parlor,  listened  to  brief  addresses,  and 
were  entertained  with  music  by  Lander's  orchestra,  of 
New  York.  Hon.  J.  H.  White,  chairman  of  the  committee, 
presided.  Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler,  on  behalf  of  the  committee, 
offered  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
Grand  Union,  Messrs.  Breslin,  Purcell  &  Co.,  for  the  sump- 
tuous and  elegant  manner  in  which  the  company  had  been 


128  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

received  and  entertained.  Mr.  White  then  said  he  thought 
it  would  be  eminently  proper  for  the  alumni  to  thank  the 
citizens  of  Troy  for  their  abundant  kindness  and  hospital- 
ity, and  accordingly  offered  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  that 
effect,  calling  upon  Professor  E.  N.  Horsford,  of  the  class 
of  '37,  to  respond. 

Professor  Horsford  said  that  Professor  Eaton  counselled 
the  pupils  in  his  day  to  remember  two  things ;  one  was  not 
to  talk  without  they  had  something  to  say  ;  and  the  other 
was  to  stop  when  they  had  said  it.  He  recalled  the  days  of 
the  Institute  when  he  was  a  student,  and  spoke  feelingly  of 
some  of  the  old  and  particular  friends  of  it,  Dr.  Brinsmade, 
John  Wright  and  Uri  Gilbert ;  the  kindness  of  the  latter  to 
the  boys  of  his  class,  he  said,  could  never  be  forgotten  by 
any  of  them.  His  reference  to  Dr.  Brinsmade  was  pecul- 
iarly feeling.  He  also  referred  to  the  conclusion  of  one 
cycle  of  the  existence  of  our  Institute,  and  the  fitting  me- 
morial stone  set  up  to  Professor  Amos  Eaton.  He  made  a 
comparison  of  Bernard  Palissey,  the  discoverer  of  porcelain 
and  the  adornment  of  it  with  gold,  and  likened  the  efforts 
and  devotion  of  Professor  Eaton  in  behalf  of  the  Institute, 
to  Palissey  giving  his  wife's  wedding  ring  into  the  crucible 
in  his  experiments  for  the  carrying  out  of  his  purpose. 
Eaton  gave  his  heart's  blood  to  the  school  with  which  his 
name  would  be  ever  connected.  Another  fine  comparison 
was  made  of  the  bird  plucking  the  down  from  its  own  breast 
to  cover  its  young. 

Rev.  Mr.  Brinsmade  made  a  feeling  response  to  the  re- 
marks which  had  been  made  complimentary  to  his  brother. 

Professor  George  H.  Cook,  State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey, 
and  Vice-President  of  Rutger's  College,  responded  to  calls, 
and  spoke  of  Dr.  Brinsmade  as  one  of  the  oldest  and  firm- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


I29 


est  friends  of  the  Institute.  He  sometimes  felt  old  himself 
when  in  the  field,  but  never  would  he  feel  that  the  Institute 
was  old ;  it  was  in  its  prime,  gaining  strength  and  power. 
He  recalled  the  names  of  various  classmates  and  teachers, 
and  feelingly  remarked  how  much  the  pupils  in  his  time 
were  obliged  to  Professor  Eaton's  wife  and  daughters,  who 
seemed  fully  competent  to  instruct  and  answer  abstruse 
questions  for  them.  The  Rensselaer  Institute  is  one  of  the 
leading  ones  of  the  country,  and  must  be  sustained.  He 
thought  that  the  alumni  and  trustees  should  take  active 
measures  to  secure  an  endowment,  particularly  in  view  of  a 
bill  which  is  before  Congress  at  the  present  time,  and  pro- 
vides that  money  obtained  from  the  sale  of  Government 
lands  should  be  appropriated  to  needy  educational  institu- 
tions. The  proposition  was  received  with  applause. 

Norman  Stratton  next  spoke  to  the  resolution  telling  of 
the  warm  interest  the  citizens  of  Troy  always  showed  in  the 
Institute  during  his  stay  there.  He  also  gave  interesting 
reminiscences  of  his  classmates  and  teachers. 

The  resolution  was  then  passed  with  a  generous  and  re- 
sponsive aye. 

Professor  Nason,  on  call  of  President  White,  responded 
for  the  ladies  to  a  toast  proposed  to  them. 

A.  S.  Pease  volunteered  to  respond  to  the  resolution  of 
thanks  to  Troy,  in  a  short  address. 

A  recess  was  taken  here,  while  Lander's  orchestra  gave 
some  selections  of  music. 

In  the  meantime  Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler,  of  the  class  of  '33, 
was  requested  to  call  on  his  classmate,  Dr.  Alexander  Van 
Rensselaer,  the  last  surviving  son  of  the  patroon  and 
founder  of  the  Institute.  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer  came  over 
from  Congress  Hall  and  was  introduced  to  the  alumni  and 
17 


130 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


friends    present,    and    n   very    interesting    social    time    was 
enjoyed  to  the  close  of  the  day. 

The  party  left  Saratoga  at  4:30  p.  M.,  arriving  in  Troy  a 
little  before  six  o'clock. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


HARMONY  HALL,  8  O'CLOCK,  P.  M. 


PROMENADE  CONCERT. 


CONCERT  PROGRAMME. 

1.  Ouverture — Maurer  and  Schlosser, Auber. 

2.  Fesche  Geister  Waltz, Ed.  Strauss. 

3.  Potpourri  La  Forza  Del  Destino, Verdi. 

4.  Friihling  Klange  Polka, , A.  Schmidt. 

5.  Serenade — Gute  Nacht, Abt. 

Auld  Lang  Syne. 


ORDER  OF  DANCING. 

1.  WALTZ— Wiener  Bluet. . .    J.  Strauss. 

2.  LANCIERS — No.  n, Weingarten. 

3.  GALOP — Touristen, Zikoff. 

4.  PROMENADE — Blumenlied  Fantasia, Koppitz. 

5.  QUADRILLE, J.  Strauss. 

6.  WALTZ — Ball-Promessen, Ed.  Strauss. 

7.  LANCIERS — No.  2, Weingarten. 

8.  PROMENADE, Selections. 

9.  WALTZ — Autograph, J.  Strauss. 

10.  QUADRILLE, Strauss. 

11.  GALOP — Von  Hause  zu  Haus, Zikoff. 

12.  LANCIERS — Grande  Duchesse, Offenbach. 

13.  WALTZ — Schonen  blauen  Donau, J.  Strauss. 


COMMITTEE  OF  ARRANGEMENTS. 

H.  B.  Nason,  Jas.  W.  Burden,  Geo.  V.  Shepard, 

Wm.  P.  Mason,  Jas.  L.  Breese. 

The  music  was  furnished  by  Doring's  Band,  and  the  refreshments  by 
C.  F.  Lucas,  Esq. 


132  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


APPENDIX. 


A  very  large  number  of  letters  have  been  received  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  from  graduates,  and  others  once  con- 
nected with  the  Institute.  These  letters  are  not  only  rilled 
with  words  of  heartfelt  interest  and  encouragement,  but  also 
contain  many  valuable  hints  to  the  future  management  and 
prosperity  of  the  Institution. 

Although  these  were  mostly  private  letters,  we  take  the 
liberty  of  making  a  few  extracts,  regretting  that  we  have  not 
space  for  more. 

From  letter  of  Strickland  Kneass,  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  and  President  of  the  Association  of  Graduates  of 
the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  for  1874,  addressed  to 
Wm.  Gurley  : 

"  I  had  hoped  to  be  with  you,  and  now  thank  you  for 
your  kind  invitation.  I  should  be  most  happy  to  meet  you 
on  our  old  battle  ground,  and  possibly  meet  old  friends.  I 
see  Stratton's  name  and  should  have  been  pleased  to  renew 
our  acquaintance.  I  did  hope  that  in  my  official  position  so 
kindly  voted  me  last  year,  I  might  say  something  to  the  new 
graduates,  impressing  upon  them  the  true  appreciation  of 
the  advantages  which  they  had  over  us  of  '39.  Yet,  if 
we  in  '39  had  what  these  boys  of  to-day  have,  I  fear  we 
would  have  been  ahead  of  time,  for  we  were  ready  for  our 
places,  and  have  done  some  service,  working  up  by  drudg- 
ery in  field  and  office,  with  the  times  as  they  progressed.  If 
these  boys  of  to-day,  were  where  we  were  in  '39, 1  fear  their 
chances  for  rapid  promotion  would  be  discouraging.  But 
you  have  much  to  do  yet,  to  keep  up  with  railroad  advances. 
I  had  a  short  conversation  with  Professor  Nason  when  here, 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  133 

and  I  say  again  that  I  feel  assured  that  a  course  looking  to 
railroad  management,  viz :  by  attaching  the  economics  of 
transportation,  would  be  attended  with  grand  results  to  both 
the  Institute  and  country. 

"  Will  you  say  how  much  I  regret  being  compelled  to  be 
away  from  you,  as  my  heart  is  with  the  Institute,  and  as  re- 
gards its  standing  with  our  company,  I  would  say  that  there 
are  some  nineteen  graduates  who  hold  responsible  positions 
with  us,  and  they  are  always  acceptable  when  opportunity 
offers." 

From  letter  of  General  Amos  B.  Eaton,  of  Washington, 
D.  C.  : 

u  Although  I  am  not  an  alumnus  of  the  Rensselaer  Poly- 
technic Institute,  nor  of  the  "  Rensselaer  School,"  as  it  was 
called  in  its  earlier  days — still  it  has  been  my  intention, 
until  to-day,  to  visit  Troy,  and  to  witness  such  of  the  com- 
mencement and  the  exercises  of  the  semi-centennial  of  the 
Institution  as  might  be  open  to  me,  but  I  find  that  my 
health  is  such  at  this  time,  as  will  not  justify  my  leaving  home. 

"  It  is  a  very  great  satisfaction  to  me  that  the  Institution 
that  my  father  established,  with  only  a  few  to  appreciate  and 
aid,  has  gained  and  grown  until  it  is  acknowledged  through- 
out the  whole  country  to  rank  with  the  best  schools  of 
science.  I  am  especially  grateful  to  the  generous  and  ap- 
preciative friends  of  my  father,  that  they  are  to  erect  and 
dedicate  a  monument  to  his  memory.  It  is  due  to  him  from 
his  pupils,  that  they  should  do  as  they  propose  to  do,  write 
the  name  Amos  Eaton  upon  the  granite  he  taught  them  to 
"  spell  by  its  component  mineral  factors." 

"  I  hope  during  the  summer  to  be  in  Troy,  and  then  to  see 
the  "  Eaton  monument,"  and  to  pay  my  respects  to  Presi- 
dent Forsyth  and  others  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  In- 
stitute." 

From  letter  of  Rev.  Marvin  R.  Vincent,  D.  D.,  pastor  of 
Church  of  the  Covenant,  New  York,  and  formerly  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Institute : 

"  It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at  your  meet- 


134  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

ing,  but  I  may  be  allowed  to  express  my  hearty  sympathy 
with  its  object.  *  *  *  I  feel  that  the  Rensselaer  Insti- 
tute has  a  legitimate  claim  on  the  liberality  and  confidence 
of  your  citizens,  because  it  has  always  been,  as  it  is  now,  a 
source  of  reputation  and  credit  to  the  city.  It  has  stood  as 
a  scientific  school  of  the  highest  grade  ;  and  though  the 
advance  of  science  and  the  growth  of  the  country  have 
resulted  in  other,  similar  schools,  yet  they  all  still  look  with 
respect  to  the  Rensselaer.  Its  graduates  are  filling  honor- 
able and  responsible  positions  all  over  our  land.  Notwith- 
standing the  multiplication  of  scientific  schools,  its  number 
of  students  never  was  so  large.  And  not  an  unimportant 
consideration  is  the  fact  that  the  Institution  turns  annually 
into  Troy  a  very  handsome  revenue. 

"  Troy  is  thus,  as  it  seems  to  me,  only  consulting  her  own 
best  interests  and  reputation  by  carefully  fostering  this 
school.  It  is  a  school  for  the  advancement  of  those  very 
sciences  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  her  manufacturing 
interests,  the  principal  sources  of  her  wealth.  Nor  are  the 
manufacturing  interests  alone  concerned.  Every  business 
man  and  every  professional  man  has  a  personal  interest  in 
the  work  in  which  you  and  your  colleagues  are  engaged. 
As  citizens  of  the  Republic  none  of  us  can  be  indifferent  to 
the  vast  development  of  mineral  wealth  which  is  among 
the  potent  forces  now  shaping  the  civilization  of  the  West ; 
a  development  which  must  be  largely  in  the  ratio  of  the 
advance  of  science.  The  great  truths  which  you  illustrate, 
and  the  great  discoveries  for  which  you  prepare  the  way, 
touch  the  realm  of  the  physician  and  of  the  theologian 
as  well  as  that  of  the  manufacturer.  And  yet  I  know 
how  comparatively  few  outside  of  professional  circles 
are  aware  of  the  amount  of  resources  necessary  to 
keep  such  an  institution  abreast  with  the  progress  of 
science.  Large  quantities  of  costly  and  delicate  apparatus, 
expensive  models,  chemicals,  the  best  and  newest  scientific 
works  and  periodicals,  not  only  accomplished  Professors  but 
able  assistants,  all  these  require  a  generous  outlay.  And 
such  I  trust  the  citizens  of  Troy  will  feel  it  for  their  inter- 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  135 

est  to  make.  Surely  no  investment  could  return  to  the  city 
a  richer  usury,  both  in  credit  and  otherwise.  The  reputa- 
tion it  has  already  won,  the  respect  with  which  it  is  every- 
where named,  the  advantages  occuring  to  your  society  from 
the  residence  of  its  accomplished  Faculty,  the  aid  it  is 
furnishing  in  the  development  of  material  resources  and 
mechanical  inventions  destined  to  re-act  upon  the  business 
and  manufacturing  interests  of  the  world, — all  should,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  make  it  your  pride  to  cherish  it  and  to  enlarge 
to  the  utmost  its  facilities." 

From  letter  of  Prof.  B.  F.  Silliman,  of  New  Haven  : 

"  I  should  have  taken  pleasure,  had  it  been  in  my  power, 
to  have  assisted  at  the  interesting  semi-centennial  exercises. 
The  Rensselaer  Institute  deserves  abundant  honor  as  the 
pioneer  in  this  special  line  of  professional  training,  in  the 
United  States,  and  they  find  it  best  expressed  in  the  useful 
lives  of  their  honored  Alumni  all  over  the  land." 

From  letter  of  F.  Collingwood,  Engineer  on  the  Suspen- 
sion Bridge,  New  York  : 

"  I  trust  that  in  good  time  the  proposition  brought  promi- 
nently forward  by  Mr.  Boiler, — that  the  Alumni  have  a  rep- 
resentation in  the  management  of  the  Institute, — may  be- 
come an  accomplished  fact.  With  proper  restrictions,  it 
can  hardly  result  otherwise  than  in  benefit ;  and  I  have 
faith  to  believe  that  the  lively  interest  that  will  in  time  be 
awakened  will  bring  also  something  more  tangible.  Though 
engineers  as  a  class  do  not  amass  wealth,  there  must  be 
some  of  the  graduates  who,  in  other  fields  of  labor,  will  do 
so,  and  I  believe  that  it  is  to  such  sources  mainly  that  sub- 
stantial aid  should  be  looked  for.  Aside  from  this,  the 
Alumni  ought  to  know,  better  than  any  other  class  of  men, 
what  are  the  needs  of  the  Institute,  and  what  the  wisest 
measures  to  adopt.  I  trust,  therefore,  that  we  shall  not  let 
another  Alumni  meeting  pass  without  bringing  out  more 
pointedly  the  views  of  the  members,  and  taking  steps  to 
press  the  matter  upon  the  attention  of  the  Trustees." 

From  letter  of  O.  F.  Nichols,  Engineer  on  the  Chimbote 
&  Huaraz  Railroad,  Peru,  S.  A.  : 


136  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

v 

"  My  friends  have  favored  me  with  the  newspaper  reports 
of  the  semi-centennial  exercises,  and  as  I  had  anticipated, 
they  passed  off  finely.  I  wish  I  could  have  been  with  you, 
but  Troy  and  Lima  are  most  too  far  apart  to  make  such  a 
wish  practicable.  I  heartily  approve  of  almost  any  means 
which  have  for  their  object  the  assembling  of  the  graduates 
of  the  Institute,  for  I  think  that  much  of  the  support  it 
obtains  other  than  financial,  depends  upon  the  interest 
which  the  graduates  take  in  the  school,  and  the  zeal  they 
display  in  its  aid.  Certainly,  by  this  time  we  should  have 
given  up  most  hope  of  obtaining  any  funds  from  the  worthy 
men,  rich  and  poor,  who  have  received  their  education  at 
the  Institute.  Still,  if  there  yet  be  hope  from  the  city  of  its 
birth,  and  the  State  Legislature,  possibly  some  financial 
good  may  come  out  of  Nazareth  yet. 

"  Collegiate  experience  seems  to  be  that  individuals  with 
large  hearts,  or  large  love  of  approbation  and  larger  purses, 
are  to  be  relied  on,  and  I  trust  that  some  such  individual 
may  one  day,  not  too  far  off,  be  found,  who  shall  furnish 
Troy  with  the  wherewithal  to  maintain  its  Institute  in  the 
position  which  we  all  wish  it  might  hold.  Now,  and  for 
long  years,  the  high  standing  it  has,  is  and  has  been  main- 
tained by  the  industry  and  sacrifice  of  its  professors,  aided 
by  the  record  of  the  men,  talented  and  deserving,  of  its 
graduates.  It  seems  to  me  now  that  on  the  same  elements 
the  Institute  will  have  to. depend  for  many  a  year,  for  what- 
ever of  reputation  it  bears.  The  new  schools,  with  all  their 
wealth,  do  not  seem  to  prove  formidable  rivals,  either  by 
diminishing  the  number  of  students  at  Troy,  or  by  sending 
out  better  Engineers." 

From  letter  of  Rev.  S.  R.  House,  M.  D,,  of  the  class  of 
1834,  Missionary  at  Bangkok,  Siam : 

u  I  can  only  express  my  sincere  regret  that  distance  must 
prevent  my  joining  my  fellow  graduates  of  the  Rensselaer 
Institute,  so  honored  in  memory,  in  celebrating  her  semi- 
centennial anniversary.  Be  assured  that  few  of  her  grad- 
uates can  have  greater  veneration  for  her  founders  or  a 
higher  appreciation  of  the  excellencies  of  her  modes  of 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


137 


instruction — or  be  more  thankful  for  the  delighful  and  profit- 
able months  spent  in  her  halls.  I  have  ever  had  reason  to 
remember  most  gratefully  my  worthy  Alma  Mater,  for  the 
practical  acquaintance  gained  of  the  natural  sciences  and 
applied  mathematics,  has  been  of  the  greatest  service  to  me 
throughout  my  missionary  life.  I  will  mention  one  instance. 
Some  lectures  on  chemistry  with  experiments  given  soon 
after  my  arrival  here,  secured  for  me  the  respect  and  lasting 
friendship  of  the  knowledge-loving  Crown  Prince,  who  a 
few  years  after  was  called  to  the  Throne  and  reigned  for 
seventeen  years  over  Siam." 

(Dr.  House,  after  leaving  the  Institute,  graduated  at  Union 
College,  and  also  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
in  New  York.  While  at  the  latter  place  he  wrote  the 
"  Chemist's  Dream  "  published  in  the  Knickerbocker  Mag- 
azine. He  also  made  many  valuable  contributions  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  natural  history  and  geography  of  that 
little  known  land.) 

From  a  letter  of  James  T.  Allen,  class  of  1855,  written  at 
Zurich,  Switzerland  : 

"  It  may  be  of  interest  to  some  of  the  graduates  to  know  that 
the  father  of  our  lamented  Professor  Elderhorst,  Col.  Elder- 
horst,  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  ninety-three.  One  of  the 
few,  who  as  an  officer  in  the  Hannoverian  cavalry  fought 
through  Waterloo  and  the  Peninsula.  His  sister,  ninety- 
seven,  his  wife  sixty-five,  and  daughter  comprises  the  family 
at  Hameln,  Hannover.  A  younger  brother  died  a  few  years 
since  whom  they  mourn  with  William  as  though  in  new 
made  graves.  Two  cousins  about  the  age  of  the  Professor 
wear  the  iron  cross  gained  in  the  late  French  war.  *  * 

"  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  be  present  at  the  semi- 
centennial exercises,  but  as  it  is  impossible,  I  propose  as  a 
toast : — "  The  graduates  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  In- 
stitute— may  they  always  do  their  level  best." 


18 


138  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  PROCEEDINGS 


ACTS  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE, 

AND  PRINCIPAL  DATES 

RELATING   TO    THE 

RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


The  School  was  founded  by  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer, 
Nov.  5th,  1824.  See  his  letter  of  that  date  to  Rev.  Samuel 
Blatchford,  D.  D. 

1826,  March  21,  it  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature,  as  "  the  President  and  Trustees  of  the  Rensse- 
laer School."  (Laws  of  1826,  p.  63.)  And  was  located  at 
the  north  end  of  Troy,  in  the  building  called  "the  old  Bank 
place." 

In  1832,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  the  name  was 
changed  to  "  The  Rensselaer  Institute."  Laws  of  1832,  p. 

567. 

In  April,  1834,  the  Rensselaer  Institute,  with  the  consent 
of  Hon.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  was  removed  to  the  Van- 
derheyden  Mansion  House  in  Troy. 

In  1835,  an  act  was  passed,  increasing  the  number  of 
Trustees,  adding  the  Mayor  and  Recorder,  and  also  the  Al- 
derman of  the  Fourth  ward.  Laws  of  1835,  p.  296. 

In  1837,  an  act  was  passed  reviving  the  Troy  Academy, 
and  uniting  it  with  the  Rensselaer  Institute,  and  giving  the 
Regents  of  the  University  the  right  of  visitation.  Laws  of 

1837- 

In  1843,  the  city  of  Troy  gave  to  the  Rensselaer  Institute 
"  the  Infant  School  lot,"  corner  of  Sixth  and  State  streets, 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  139 

valued  at  $6,500,  provided  Wm.  P.  Van  Rensselaer  gave  a 
like  amount  in  money  to  the  Institute. 

In  1844,  the  Rensselaer  Institute  was  removed  from  the 
Vanderheyden  Mansion  House  to  the  building  erected  on 
the  Infant  School  lot. 

In  1850,  March  8,  an  act  was  passed  enlarging  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  and  adding  the  Mayor  of  Troy,  ex-officio. 
Laws  of  1850,  p.  54. 

In  1 86 1,  April  8,  an  act  was  passed  changing  the  name, 
and  incorporating  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute. 
Laws  of  1861,  p.  428. 

The  fire  of  May  10,  1862,  destroyed  the  buildings  and 
all  the  furniture,  appurtenances,  library  and  cabinets,  to- 
gether with  the  records  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The 
School  took  refuge  in  the  University  on  the  hill  (now  the 
Provincial  Seminary),  until  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  it  ob- 
tained quarters  in  Vail's  Building,  corner  of  Congress  and 
River  streets,  till  May  ist,  1864,  when  the  Rensselaer  Poly- 
technic Institute  entered  into  possession  of  the  land  and 
buildings  at  the  head  of  Broadway,  where  it  now  is. 

The  Winslow  Laboratory,  named  in  honor  of  John  F. 
Winslow,  Esq.,  former  President  of  the  Institute,  was  com- 
menced in  1865,  and  completed  September,  1866. 


INDEX. 


Acts  of  the  Legislature  referring  to  Institute, 138 

Address  by  A.  P.  Boiler,  C.  E.,  .  . 31 

Address  by  President  James  Forsyth, 113 

Address  by  Prof.  James  Hall, 42 

Address  by  Prof.  E.  N.  Hosford, 49 

Address  by  Prof.  H.  B.  Nason, 43 

Address  by  Henry  Sedley,  Esq., 71 

Address  by  Hon.  Martin  I.  Townsend, 39 

Alumni  Dinner, 105 

Appendix — Extracts  from  Letters, 132 

Commencement  Exercises, 112 

Concert  by  R.  P.  I.  Glee  Club, 27 

Dedication  of  the  Eaton  Monument, 39 

Excursion  to  Saratoga, 127 

Institute  Regatta, 26 

Notices  of  Memorial  Windows,   96 

Programme  of  Semi-Centennial  Exercises, 7 

Promenade  Concert, . .  i 131 

Poem  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Ambler, 105 

Reading  of  Theses 25 

Reading  of  Theses,  ...    29 

Resolution  and  Circulars, 3 

Sermon  bv  Rev.  Dr.  Webber, 9 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL 


CATALOGUE 


— OF- 


OFFICERS  AND  STUDENTS 


—OF  THE — 


1824-1874. 


TROY,  N.  Y. : 
WM.    H.  YOUNG,  8  &  9  FIRST  STREET. 

187S. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


OFFICERS  AND  TRUSTEES 

OP    THE 

RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE, 

1824-1874. 


*Hon.  STEPHEN  VAN  RENSSELAER,  LL.  D.,  Patron,  Albany,  with 

power  to  appoint  examiners, 1824 — 39 

Presidents. 

*Rev.  SAMUEL  BLATCHFORD,  D.  D.,  of  Lansingburgh, 1824 — 28 

*Rev.  JOHN  CHESTER,  D.  D.,  of  Albany, 1828 — 29 

*Rev.  ELIPHALET  NOTT,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  (President  of  Union  Col- 
lege, Schenectady,) 1829—45 

*Rev.  NATHAN  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Troy, 1845—65 

Hon.  JOHN  F.  WINSLOW,  Troy, 1 865 — 68 

*THOMAS  C.  BRINSMADE,  M.  D.,  Troy, 1868—68 

Hon.  JAMES  FORSYTH,  Troy, 1868 

Vice  Presidents. 

*ORVILLE  L.  HOLLEY,  Troy,  (Surveyor  General  of  the  State  of 

New  York),  1st  Vice  President,  .  .    1824—31 

*T.  ROMEYN  BECK,  M.  D.,  Albany,  2d  Vice  President, 1824 — 28 

*Hon.  DAVID  BUEL,  Jr.,  Troy,  2d  Vice  President, 1829 — 60 

*Rev.  N.  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D.,  Troy, ....1842—45 

WILLIAM  P.  VAN  RENSSELAER,  Greenbush, 1845 — 64 

*THOMAS  C.  BRINSMADE,  M.  D.,  Troy, 1 864—68 

*Hon.  GEORGE  GOULD,  Troy, 1868 — 68 

E.  THOMPSON  GALE,  C.  E.,  Troy, 1869 — 72 

Hon.  WILLIAM  GURLEY,  C.  E.,  Troy, 1872 


4  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

Secretaries. 

*MOSKS  HALE,  M.  D., 1824—35 

*Rev.  E.  HOPKINS, 1835-41 

*Hon.  ISAAC  McCoNiHE, 1841 — 42 

Hon.  JOSEPH  WHITE, 1842 — 49 

STEPHEN  WICKES,  M.  D., 1849—54 

Rev.  JOHN  B.  TIBBITS, 1854—61 

Hon.  WILLIAM  GURLEY,  C.  E., 1861—72 

WILLIAM  H.  DOUGHTY,  C.  E.,.  . 1872 

Treasurers. 

*Hon.  HANFORD  N.  LOCKWOOD, 1 824—44 

*THOMAS  C.  BRINSMADE,  M.  D., 1844 — 47 

Hon.  DAY  OTIS  KELLOGG, 1847 — 50 

WILLIAM  H.  YOUNG, 1850 

Trustees, 

*Rev.  SAMUEL  BLATCHFORD,  D.  D 1824 — 28 

*ELIAS  PARMELEE, 1824—34 

*Hon.  JOHN  CRAMER, 1824—48 

*Hon.  GUERT  VAN  SCHOONHOVEN, 1824 — 44 

*Hon.  SIMEON  DEWITT, 1824—28 

*T.  ROMEYN  BECK,  M.  D., 1824—28 

*Hon.  JOHN  D.  DICKINSON,  LL.  D., 1824 — 40 

*JEDEDIAH  TRACY 1824—25 

*Hon.  RICHARD  P.  HART, 1825—44 

*Gen.  NICHOLAS  F.  BECK, 1828—31 

* Judge  JESSE  BUEL, 1828—35 

PHILIP  S.  VAN  RENSSELAER, 1833—44 

*Rev.  PHINEAS  L.  WHIPPLE, 1833—37 

*Rcv.  ELIPHALET  NOTT,  D.  D., 1 842—45 

*Hon.  DAVID  BUEL,  Jr., 1842—44 

*Hon.  H.  W.  STRONG,  (Ex  Qffido], 1842-44 

D.  G.  EGLESTON,  1842 — 44 

*Rev.  N.  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 1842—65 

*Rev.  W.  B.  SPRAGUE,  D.  D., 1842—44 

*JOHN  HOLME,  Esq., 1842—56 

Rev.  A.  T.  TWING,  D.  D., 1842—68 

*Hon.  ISAAC  McCoNiHE,  LL.  D., 1 842 — 67 

*Hon.  JONAS  C.  HEARTT,  (Ex  Officio), 1843—43 

*Hon.  GURDON  CORNING,  "  1843—68 

STEPHEN  BOWMAN,  "  1843 — 44 

*Rev.  REUBEN  SMITH, 1843—45 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  5 

Hon.  A.  B.  OLIN,  (Ex  Offido), 1844—48 

JARED  S.  WKED,  "  1 844—45 

*THOMAS  C.  BRINSMADE,  M.  D., 1 844 — 68 

WILLIAM  P.  VAN  RENSSELAER, ]  845 — 49 

*LUTHER  TUCKER, 1845—49 

*Hon.  DANIEL  D.  BARNARD, .' 1845 — 50 

*JAMES  DANA,  (Ex   Offido}, 1 847—49 

Hon.  FRANCIS  N.  MANN,  (Ex    Offido}, 1 847—50 

STEPHEN  WICKES,  M.  D., .  . 1847—54 

*BENJAMIN  P.  JOHNSON, 1849 — 66 

ALEXANDER  VAN  EENSSELAER,  M.  D., .  . .  1849 — 68 

*JOHN  WILKINSON, 1849—55 

Hon.  J.  M.  WARREN, 1849 

LE  GRAND  B .  CANNON, 1849 — 64 

D.  THOMAS  VAIL, 1849 

*HIRAM  SLOCUM, 1849—65 

*ORSAMUS  EATON, 1849 — 59 

Rev.  JOHN  B.  TIBBITS 1849—68 

Hon.  JOSEPH  WHITE, 1850 — 55 

Hon.  DAY  OTIS  KELLOGG,  (Ex  Offido}, 1 850 — 50 

*AMOS  DEAN, 1 850 — 53 

*Hon.  HANFORD  N.  LOCKWOOD,  (Ex  Offido), 1850—51 

Hon.  JOSEPH  M.  WARREN,  "  1851—52 

*Hon.  GEORGE  GOULD,  "  1853—53 

Hon.  FOSTER  BOSWORTH,  "  1 853 — 53 

Hon.  ELIAS  PLUM,  "  : 1853—54 

*THOMAS  W.  BLATCHFORD,  M.  D., 1854—66 

Hon.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS, 1 854 — 68 

*Hon.  JOHN  A.  GRISWOLD,  (Ex  Offido}, 1855 — 56 

B.  FRANKLIN  GREENE, 1855 — 59 

Hon.  WILLIAM  GURLEY, - 1855 

* JONATHAN  E.  WHIPPLE, 1 856 — 6(5 

*Hon.  HIRAM  SLOCUM,  (Ex  Offido) 1856—57 

Hon.  ALFRED  WOTKYNS,  M.  D.,  (Ex  Offido), 1857—58 

*Hon.  AREA  READ,  "  1858—60 

Hon.  JOHN  F.  WINSLOW, 1860—68 

E.  THOMPSON  GALE, 1860 

*Hon.  JOHN  A.  GRISWOLD, 1860—72 

HON.  ISAAC  McCoNiHE,  Jr.,  (Ex  Offido), 1860—67 

Hon.  GEORGE  B.  WARREN,  Jr.,     "  ...    . 1861 — 62 

WILLIAM  H.  YOUNG, 1861 

Hon.  LYMAN  WILDER, 1861 

*Hon.  AREA  READ, 1861—63 

ALBERT  E.  POWERS, 1861 

*Rev.  PETER  BULLIONS,  D.  D., 1862—64 


6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

Hon.  JAMES  THORN,  M.  D.,  (Ex   Officio), 186'2— tiS 

Hon.  WILLIAM  L.  VAN  ALSTYXE,     "  1863 — 64 

Hon.  JAMES  THORN,  M.  D.,  (Ex  Officio), 1864—65 

Rev.  DUNCAN  KENNEDY,  D.  D., 1864—68 

*Hon.  JONAS  C.  HEARTT, 1864—74 

*Hon.  GEORGE  GOULD, 1 864 — G8 

DAVID  COWEE, 1865 

ALEXANDER  L.  HOLLKY, 1865 — 67 

Hon.  URI  GILBERT,  (Ex   Officio), 1 865—66 

*F.  B.  LEONARD,  M.  D., 1866— fc'9 

JAMES  S.  KNOWLSON, 1866 

Hon.  URI  GILBERT, 1866 

Hon.  DAVID  A.  WELLS,  LL.  D 1866 

*Hon.  J.  L.  FLAGG,  (Ex   Officio,) 1866—68 

Hon.  CHARLES  R.  INGALLS, 1 868 

Rev.  MARVIN  R.  VINCENT,  D.  D., 18(58—70 

WILLIAM  A.  SHEPARD, 1868 

Hon.  FRANCIS  S.  THAYER, 1868 

Hon.  JAMES  FORSYTH 1 868 

JOSEPH  W.  FULLER, 1868 

Hon.  WILLIAM  KEMP, 1868 

AZRO  B.  MORGAN 1868—69 

Hon.  MILES  BEACH,  (Ex  Officio), 1868 — 78 

Rev.  J.  IRELAND  TUCKER,  D.  D., 1869 

ALEXANDER  L.  HOLLEY,   1870 

CLARENCE  E.  DUTTON,  U.  S.  A., 1870 

Hon.  URI  GILBERT,  (Ex  Officio), 1870—71 

HENRY  C.  LOCKWOOD, 1871 

WILLIAM  H.  DOUGHTY,   1871 

Hon.  THOMAS  B.  CARROLL,  (Ex  Officio), 1871—73 

Hon.  WILLIAM  KEMP,  1878 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


FACULTY  AND  OTHER  INSTRUCTORS. 


Senior  Professors. 

*AMOS  EATON,  A.  M., • 1824 42 

GEORGE  H.  COOK,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S., 1842 4t> 

CHARLES  BROWNE,  C.  E.,  A..  M., 1859 — 60 

Directors, 

B.  FRANKLIN  GREENE,  C.  E.,  A.  M., 1847 59 

*Rev.  N.  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 1859—60 

CHARLES  DROWNE,  C.  E.,  A.  M., 1 860 

Junior  Professors, 

*LEWIS  C.  BECK,  M.  D.,    1824 — 29 

*HEZEKIAH  H.  EATON,  A.  B.,  (r.  s.) 1829 — 30 

*PAUL  EUGENE  STEVENSON,  A.  B.,  (r.  s.) 1830 — 35 

*EBENEZER  EMMONS,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  (N.  Y.  Stnte  Geologist), 1835 — 39 

Professors  of  Geology. 

*AMOS  EATON,  A.  M., 1824 — 35 

*EBENEZER  EMMONS,  M.  D., 1835 

GEORGE  H.  COOK,  C.  E.,  A.  M., 1842—46 

EDWARD  A.  H.  ALLEN,  C.  E., 1851—54 

JAMES  HALL,  LL.  D.,  (N.  Y.  State  Geologist), 1854 

Professors  of  Chemistry. 

*AMOS  EATON,  A.  M., 1 824—35 

JAMES  HALL,  A.  M., 1835—37 

*WILLIAM  ELDERHORST,  M.  D., 1855 — 61 

CHARLES  A.  GOESSMANN,  Ph.  D., 1861—64 

HENRY  B.  NASON,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D., 1864 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

Professors 'of  Botany. 

*AMOS  EATON,  A.  M., 1824 — 38 

R.  HALSTED  WARD,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 1869 

Professors  of  Botany  and  Zoology. 

*JOHN  WRIGHT,  M.  D.,  (State  Botanist  of  Michigan), 1838—45 

*FREDERICK  B.  LEONARD,  M.  D., 1845 — 48 

Professors  of  Natural  History. 

*LEWIS  C.  BECK,  M.  D., 1824—29 

EDWARD  A.  H.  ALLEN,  C.  E., 1854 — 55 

HENRY  B.  NASON,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D., 1858—64 

Professors  of  Mechanics. 

B.  FRANKLIN  GREENE,  C.  E.,  A.  M., 1847—59 

CHARLES  BROWNE,  C.  E.,  A.  M., 1859 

Professors  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy. 

OiAitLKs  DKOWXK,  C.  E., 1*51  —  55 

DASCOM  (TUKKXE,  C.  E., 1  s.">7 

Professors  of  Descriptive  Geometry  and  Drawing. 

G.  GUSTAVUS  BERGER, 1851 — 51 

S.  EDWARD  WARREN,  C.  E., 1853—72 

DWINEL  F.  THOMPSON,  B.  S., 1872 

Professors  of  Geodesy,  Road  Engineering  and  Topographical  Drawing. 

CHARLES  DROWNE,  C.  E.,  (Professor  of  Geodesy  and  Road  Engin- 
eering),   1851—55 

DAVID  M.  GREENE,  C.  E., 1856—61 

WILLIAM  H.  SEARLES,  C.  E.,   1862—64 

CHARLES  MCMILLAN,  C.  E., 1865—71 

WILLIAM  L.  ADAMS,  C.  E., 1872 

Professor  of  Mental  Philosophy. 

*Rev.  N.  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 1854—65 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  9 

Professors  of  Modern  Languages. 

*GEORGE  F.  STRUVE, 1854 — 56 

Louis  COUSIN,  B.  L.  and  S.,  de  la  FacultS  de  Paris, 1856  -  59 

PHILIP  H.  BAERMANN, 1861—66 

J.  H.  C.  LAJOIE  DE  MARCELEAU,  A.  B., 1869 73 

Professors  of  English  Composition, 

JAMES  T.  ALLEN,  B.  S., 1855—58 

T.  NEWTON  WILSON,  A.  M., 1859 59 

Professor  of  Metallurgy  and  Practical  Mining. 

GEORGE  W.  MAYNARD,  A.  M., 1867 71 

Adjunct  Professors  of  Mathematics. 

CHARLES  DROWNE,  C.  E., 1849 51 

DASCOM  GREENE,  C.  E., 1853 — 57 

*T.  ORLANDO  HOPKINS,  C.  E., 1857 59 

WILLIAM  FENTON,  C.  E., 1864 70 

Instructors  in  Mathematics. 

CHARLES  DROWNE,  C.  E., 1847 — 49 

GEORGE  W.  PLYMPTON,  C.  E., 1850 — 50 

DASCOM  GREENE, 1852—53 

DE  VOLSON  WOOD, 1 856 — 57 

JOSEPH  G.  Fox,  C.  E., 1861 62 

HORACE  LOOMIS, 1862 63 

WILLIAM  FENTON,  C.  E., 1863 — 64 

GEORGE  M.  HUNT,  C  E., 1864 67 

Instructors  in  Descriptive  Geometry  and  Drawing. 

DAVID  HATHAWAY,  C.  E 1 847 — 50 

S.  EDWARD  WARREN,  C.  E., 1852 — 53 

ALBERT  G.  EMERY, 1855 — 58 

Instructors  in  Physics  or  Mechanics. 

CHARLES  DROWNE,  C.  E. 1847  —  49 

*  JAMES  W.  BRADSHAW,  C.  E., 1850—51 

WILLIAM  TWEDDALE,  C.  E., 1852—54 

GEORGE  L.  MOODY, 1854 — 54 

B 


10  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

C.  WHITMAN  BOYNTON,  C.  E., > 1856—57 

ALBERT  H.  GALLATIN,  M.  D., 1866— 07 

ARTHUR  W.  BOWER,  C.  E., 1871 

HKXRY  A.  ROWLAND,  C.  E., 1872 

Instructors  in  Geodesy. 

GEORGE  B.  ROBERTS,   1850-51 

*JOSEPH  A.  MOAK, 1 854—55 

DAVID  M.  GREENE,  C.  E., 1 855 — 56 

CHARLES  C.  MARTIN,  C.  E., 1856—57 

WILLIAM  L.  ADAMS,  C.  E.,  (Acting  Professor), 1864—65 

CHARLES  E.  SMITH,  C.  E.,  (Acting  Professor), 1871 — 72 

Instructors  in  Botany. 

*JosE  TELL  FERRAO,  B.  S., 1850     51 

LEWIS  G.  LOWE,  C.  E.,  M.  D., 1854—55 

R.  HALSTED  WARD,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 1867—69 

Instructors  in  Modern  Languages. 

PAUL  EDWARD  VON  THUN, , 1852 — 54 

*JOHN  B.  LUCE,  A.  M., 1860 — 61 

J.  H.  C.  LAJOIE  DE  MARCELEAU,  A.  B., .1866 — 69 

JULES  GODEBY,  A.  B., 1 873 

Instructors  in  English  Composition. 

*  JAMES  R.  PERCY,  B.  S., 1858—59 

CHARLES  E.  ILLSLEY,  A.  B., 1866 — 67 

ALEXANDER  G.  JOHNSON,  A.  M., 1869 

Assistants  in  Chemistry. 

EDWARD  SUFFERN, ...  1 835 — 36 

D.  S.  SMALLEY, 1835 — 36 

JONATHAN  R.  POWELL,  C.  E., 1847 — 48 

LEWIS  G.  LOWE,  C.  E., 1849—50 

*JOSE  TELL  FERRAO, 1850—51 

JAMES  T.  ALLEN,  (Instructor), .1 854 — 55 

MATTHIEU  DARMSTADT,  Ph.  D., 1 866 — 68 

IRVING  A.  STEARNS,  M.  E., 1868—69 

EDWARD  NICHOLS,  B.  S., 1871 — 73 

ALFRED  S.  BERTOLET,  M.  E., 1873 — 75 

Adjuncts  and  Assistants  to  the  Senior  Professor. 

(Appointed  for  a  Single  Term  or  Year.) 

FAY  EDGERTON, 1828 

THOMAS  E.  RIPLEY, . .  1828 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  1 1 

DANIEL  A.  COMSTOCK, 1829 

JOHN  W.  BARROWS, 1829 

JAMES  E.  BOOTH, 1831 

SAMUEL  W.  WILLIAMS, 1832 

ALEXANDER  VAN  RENSSELAER, 1833 

D.  CADY  SMITH,    1833 

Adjuncts  and  Assistants  to  the  Junior  Professors. 

(Appointed  for  a  Single  Term  or  Year.) 

*TlMOTHY  DWIGHT  EATON, 1  827 

*ORLIN  OATMAN, 1827 

*DOUGLASS  HOUGHTON, 1  830 

JAMES  B.  DUNGAN, 1 830 

ABRAM  SAGER, 1 831 

ABEL  STORRS, 1832 

JAMES  HALL, 1 833 

Janitors. 

ASAHEL  GILBERT, 1 826 — 85 

LLOYD  HARPER, , 1 855 — 69 

JULIUS  BETHMANN, f 1 869 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 
1874. 


HON.  JAMES  FORSYTH,  PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  GURLEY,  VICE  PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  H.  DOUGHTY,  SECRETARY. 
WILLIAM  H.  YOUNG,  TREASURER. 


JOSEPH  M.  WARREN. 

E.  THOMPSON  GALE. 

LYMAN  WILDER. 

URI  GILBERT. 

DAVID  A.  WELLS. 

JOSEPH  W.  FULLER. 

WILLIAM  KEMP. 

RET.  J.  IRELAND  TUCKER,  D.  D. 

CLARENCE  E.  DUTTON. 


D.  THOMAS  VAIL. 
ALBERT  E.  POWERS. 
DAVID  COWEE. 
JAMES  S.  KNOWLSON. 
CHARLES  R.  ING  ALLS. 
WILLIAM  A.  SHEPARD. 
FRANCIS  S.  THAYER. 
ALEXANDER  L.  HOLLEY. 
HENRY  C.  LOCKWOOD. 


HON.  WILLIAM  KEMP,  Mayor  of  Troy,  Ex-Officio. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


FACULTY  AND  OTHER  INSTRUCTORS 
1874. 

HON.  JAMES  FORSYTE,  PRESIDENT. 

CHARLES  BROWNE,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  DIRECTOR. 

Professor  of  Theoretical  and  Practical  Mechanics. 

JAMES  HALL,  LL.  D.,  N.  Y.  STATE  PALEONTOLOGIST. 

Professor  of  Theoretical,  Practical  and  Mining  Geology. 

DASCOM  GREENE,  C.  E. 

Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy. 

HENRY  B.  NASON,  A.  M.,  PH.  D. 

Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Science. 

WILLIAM  L.  ADAMS,  C.  E. 

Professor  of  Geodesy,  Road  Engineering,  and  Topographical  Drawing. 

DWINEL  F.  THOMPSON,  B.  S. 

Professor  of  Descriptive  Geometry,  Stereotomy,  and  Drawing. 

R.  HALSTED  WARD,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

Professor  of  Botany. 

ALEXANDER  G.  JOHNSON,  A.  M. 

Instructor  in  the  English  Language  and  Literature. 

ARTHUR  W.  BOWER,  C.  E. 

Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Instructor  in  Mechanics. 

HENRY  A.  ROWLAND,  C.  E. 

Assistant  Professor  of  Physics. 

JULES  GODEBY,  A.  B. 

Instructor  in  French. 

ALFRED  S.  BERTOLET,  M.  E. 

Instructor  in  Analytical  Chemistry. 


14  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


GRADUATES  OF  THE  INSTITUTE. 


(r.  s.)  Denotes  Ilensselaer  School.  *  Deceased. 


CLASS    OF    1826. 

STILLMAN  E.  ARMS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Elizabethtown,  N.  J. 

*ABNER  BENEDICT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

New  York  City. 

*ALBERT  DANKER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Civil  Engineer, Troy,  N.  Y. 

*HEZEKIAH  H.  EATON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  late  Assistant  Professor  of  Chemistry  in 
the  Medical  Department  of  Transylvania  University, . .  Lexington,  Ky. 

*TIMOTHY  DWIGHT  EATON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  late  Assistant  Professor  of  Natural 
History  in  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute, Troy,  N.  Y. 

*EBENKZKR  EMMONS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  late  Professor  of  Geology 
and  Mineralogy  in  Williams  College,  and  State  Geologist  of  North  Caro- 
lina,   Williamstown,  Mass. 

ADDISON  HULBERT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

PHILIP  C.  W.  T.  McMANUS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Agriculturist,.  .  .Brunswick,  N.  Y. 

*  WILLIAM  S.  PELTON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

BENNET  F.  ROOT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Manchester,  Mich. 

CLASS    OF     1827. 

*JONATHAN  CHANDLER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Bennington,  Vt. 

JOHN  J.  DAVEY,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Malaga,  Spain. 

FRANCIS  G.  DREW,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Drercsville,  N.  H. 

ASA  FITCH,  JR.,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician,  and  N.  Y.  State  Entomologist, 
Salem,  N.  Y. 

GEORGE  F.  HORTON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician,  late  President  of  Penn- 
sylvania State  Medical  Society, ...  Terrytown,  Pa. 

SAMUEL  C.  JACKSON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

JOHN  C.  KEENEY,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Clergyman, 

*ORLIN  OATMAN,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Merchant, Port  Washington,  Wis. 

*EDWARD  SANFORD,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

New  York  City. 

CHARLES  L.  WESTON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Ri(rlir.qton,  N.  J. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  15 

CLASS    OF     1828. 

*HIRAM  ARNOLD,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Amsterdam,  N.  Y. 

*GARD\ER  BULLARD,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

*FAY  EDGERTON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)   late  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 

History  in  Utica  High  School, Utica,  N.  Y. 

THOMAS  EMORY, JR.,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  •- 

WILLIAM  HENRY,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

THOMAS  C.  RIPLEY,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)   Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Saginaw,  Mich. 

CLASS    OF    1829. 

JOHN  M.  BARROWS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  

CYRUS  BRYANT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Agriculturist, Princeton,  III. 

*  JOSEPH  B.  CLARKE,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  

*DANIEL  0.  COMSTOCK,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Horticulturist, Lockport,  N.  Y. 

MINER  GOLD,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  

JAMES  S.  HORTON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Goshen,  N.  Y. 

*DOUGLASS  HOUGHTON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  late  State  Geologist  of  Michigan, 

Detroit,  Mich. 

*LYSANDER  H.  KINGMAN,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Norfolk,  Va. 

*  JEREMIAH  B.  METCALF,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Civil  Engineer, Sandwich  Islands. 

*ALANSON  J.  PRIME,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician,. .  .  White  Plains,  N.  Y. 
*JOHN  L.  RIDDELL,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician  and  Chemist, 

New  Orleans,  La. 

CLASS    OF    183O. 

RUFUS  B.  BEMENT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

*THEODORE  W.  DECKER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Agriculturist  and  Manufacturer, 

Blooming  Grov^}  N.  Y. 

ALBERT  R.  Fox,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Glass  Manufacturer, Sand  Lake,  N.  Y. 

LEMUEL  G.  OLMSTEAD,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  LL.  D.,  Archaeologist, 

Moreau  Station,  N.  Y. 

*GEORGE  K.  OSBORN,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Troy,  N.   Y. 

SAMUEL  J.  PIKE,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

*MERRITT  PLATT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  late  Superintendent  of  Milford  High  School, 

Milford,    Conn. 

RUSH  SHERRILL,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Merchant, New  York  City. 

*P.  EUGENE  STEVENSON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  Principal  of  Passaic  Classical 

Institute, Paterson,  N.  J. 

JOSEPH  THOMAS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

*WILLIAM  WILKINSON,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 


1 6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

CLASS    OF    1831. 

*  JAMES  C.  COBB,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Saw  Jose,  Col. 

*Em\'ARD  DKVOL,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Merchant, 

AUGUSTUS  G.  HILL,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

ABRAHAM  SAGER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics,  etc.,  in 

the  University  of  Michigan, Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

ABEL  STORRS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Agriculturist, Lebanon,  N.  II. 

CLASS    OF    1832. 

WILLIAM  H.  BOYD,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Merchant, Monroe,  Mich. 

JAMES  HALL,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  LL.  D.,  N.  Y.  State  Palaeontologist,  and  Professor 
of  Theoretical,  Practical,  and  Mining  Geology  in  Rensselaer  Polytechnic 
Institute, Albany,  N.  Y. 

*JOHN  H.  PHILIP,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Physician, Mellenville,  N.  Y. 

SAMUEL  W.  WILLIAMS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Missionary,  Pekin,  China. 

CLASS    OF    1833. 

JOHN  G.  AMBLER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Dentist, New  York  City. 

EDWIN  B.  CROCKER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 

Sacramento,  Gal. 

HENRY  J.  MABBETT,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

WILLIAM  S.  SANDERS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Shushan,  N.  Y. 

DAYID  C.  SMITH,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

ALEXANDER  VAN  RENSSELAER,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  —  New  York  City. 

BLEEKER  B.  WOODWORTH,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,) 

CLASS    OF     1834. 

THERON  R.  HOPKINS,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  C.  E.,  Merchant, San  Francisco,  Cat. 

SAMUEL  R.  HOUSE,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  M.  D.,  Missionary, Bangkok,  Siam. 

*PHILO  D.  WHITTELSEY,  A.  B.  (r.  s.,)  Merchant, New  York  City. 

CLASS    OF    1835. 

CALEB  BRIGGS,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Ironton,  0. 

WILLIAM  H.  CLEMENT,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Morrow,  0. 

JOSEPH  B.  COTTMAN,  B.  N.  S., 

*  JACOB  F.  EDDY,  C.  E.,  Chicago,  111. 
ROBERT  G.  McKEE,  C.  E., 

D.  S.  SMALLEY,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Principal  of  Classical  School, 

Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 

EDWARD  SUFFERN,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Wilmington,  111. 

*MICHAEL  TUOMEY,  B.  N.  S.,  late  State  Geologist  of   South  Carolina  and 

Alabama, 
*AMOS  WESTCOTT,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  Dentist, Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

WORTHINGTON  B.  WlLLIAMS,  C.  E., 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  17 

CLASS    OF    1836. 
JAMES  S.  DRAYTON,  B.  N.  S., 

TYRUS  W.  HURD,  C.  E.,  M.  D,,  Physician, Bullion  City,  Nev. 

AARON  G.  McKEE,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, West  Arlington,  Vt. 

ISRAEL  SLADE,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Springfield,  W.  Va. 

SHERMAN  VAN  NESS,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  SM  City  Surveyor, Hudson,  N.  Y. 

*NATHAN  R.  WILDE,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Worthington,  Ind. 

CLASS    OF    1837. 

LORENZO  M.  ARNOLD,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

HENRY  BAKER,  C.  E.,  

B.  FRANKLIN  BUCK,  C.  E.,  Went  Arlington,  Vt. 

CHARLES  R.  COOK,  C.  E.,  

E.  THOMPSON  GALE,  C.  E.,  President  of  the  United  National  Bank, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 

*LEMAN  B.  GARLINGHOUSE,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Oanandaigua,  N.  Y. 

FLETCHER  J.  HAWLEY,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  D.  D.,  Clergyman,.  .Danbury,  Conn. 

GEORGE  JOHNSON,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  

LEVI  L.  LOCKLING,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  San  Diego,  Cal. 

JAMES  OAKEY,  C.  E.,  — 

AARON  B.  OLMSTEAD,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  President  Saratoga  Savings  Bank, 
Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y. 

STEPHEN  V.  R.  PATTERSON,  C.  E.,  Broker, .Neto   York  City. 

HORACE  N.  ROGERS,  C.  E., 

HENRY  R.  SNYDER,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Atlantic  and  Ontario  Rail- 
road,. . Johnstown,  N.  Y. 

JAMES  P.  WALLACE,  C.  E.,  President  of  the  N.  Y.  Guaranty  and  Indemnity 
Company, New  York  City. 

LEVI  H.  WARREN,  C.  E.,  

*CHARLES  WHIPPLE,  C.  E.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Nyack,  N.  Y. 

JOHN  WOODWORTH,  JR.,  C.  E.,  

CLASS    OF    1838. 

*HENRY  J.  AVERY,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  

GEORGE  W.  R.  BAYLEY,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  and  General  Superintendent 

of  the  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  and  Texas  Railroad, New  Orleans,  La. 

WILLIAM  C.  BAILEY,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Physician,  Chatham  Village,  N.  Y. 
EZRA  S.  CARR,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  Oakland,  Cal. 

CHARLES  S.  CROSS,  C.  E., 

*CHARLES  S.  FIELD,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  Texas. 

EBEN  N.  HORSFORD,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

*  JEROME  B.  HOWARD,  C.  E.,  Artist, New  Haven,  0. 

*DAVID  KENDALL,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Thermometers  and  Barometers, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

C 


1 8  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

*WILLIAM  G.  LAPIIAM,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  Western  Division  of  the 

New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad Syracuse,  jV.  Y. 

GEORGE  B.  LENT,  C.  E.,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

EDWARD  MYNDERSE,  C.  E.,  

ALLEN  PEARCE,  C.  E., 
GEORGE  PUTNAM,  C.  E., 

*JOHN  A.  ROBISON,  B.  N.  S.,  Contracting  Engineer, Santiago,  Cuba. 

NORMAN  STRATTON,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  U.  S.  Navy, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

ALBERT  A.  THOMPSON,  B.  N.  S., 

STEPHEN  T.  WHIPPLE,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer Pittsfteld,  Mas*. 

CLASS    OF    1839. 

BENJAMIN  W.  BOURS,  C.  E.,  Banker, Stockton,  Col. 

EDWARD  BRINLEY,  JR.,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  and  Surveyor-General 

of  East  New  Jersey, Perth  Amboy,  N.  J. 

GEORGE  H.  COOK,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Ph.  D.,   LL.  D.,  Vice  President  of,  and 

Professor  of   Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy  in  Rutger's  College, 

and  State  Geologist  of  New  Jersey, New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

*ELIHU  W.  COTES,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Warren,  O. 

GEORGE  R.  DENNIS,  B.  N.  S., 

*HENRY  J.  DRAYTON,  C.  E., 

WILLIAM  GURLEY,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Mathematical  Instruments, 

Troy,  N.   Y. 

STRICKLAND  KNEASS,  C.  E.,  Assistant  to  the  President  of  the  Pennsylvania 

Railroad  Co., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

*JOHN  VAN  NESS  PHILIP,  B.  N.  S.,  late  Lieut,  in  the  U.  S.  Navy, 

Claverack,  N.  Y. 

*JAMES  H.  POST,  C.  E., 

GEORGE  C.  POTTER,  C.  E.,  City  Engineer, San  Francisco,  Cat. 

WILLIAM  J.  POWELL,  C.  E.,  

ORRIN  STEBBINS,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S., 

JAMES  TILGHMAN,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E., 

PETER  VAN  RENSSELAER,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E., 

*AUGUSTUS  P.  VAN  SCHAICK,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,.  . .  .Lansingburgh,  N.  Y. 

FRANCIS  G.  WOODWARD,  C.  E.,  Mechanical  Engineer,  ....  Worcester,  Mass. 

CLASS    OF    184O. 

*CHARLES  H.  ANTHONY,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  late  Principal  of  Classical  School, 

Albany,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  COLLINS,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Lake  Shore  and 

Michigan  Southern  Railroad, Cleveland,  0. 

EDWARD  N.  DAUCHY,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Troy,  N.  Y. 

ANSON  DURHAM,  C.  E.,  Galesville,  N.  Y. 

ABEL  N.  HASKIN,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Battenville,  N.  Y. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  i  g 

ALFRED  B.  HASKIN,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Manufacturer, Battenville,  N.  Y. 

*  WILLIAM  LEWIS,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  Druggist, Burlington,  Wis. 

AUSTIN  F.  PARK,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  Solicitor  of  Patents,. . .  Troy,  N.  Y. 
SAMUEL  B.  PARSONS,  C.  E., 

GEORGE  H.  STARBUCK,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Steam  Engines,  etc., 

Troy,  N.    Y. 

*WILLIAM  G.  VOUGHT,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Victory,  N.  Y. 

GURDON  B.  WALLACE,  C.  E.,  Druggist, Troy,  N.  Y. 

JOHN  H.  WHITE,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, New  York  Oily. 

CLASS    OF    1841. 

JOSEPH  R.  BRADWAY,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S., 

ELDRIDGE  G.  BUSWELL,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  M.  D., North  Adams,  Mass. 

*NATHAN  COTTERELL,  2d,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Hoosick  Falls,  N.  Y. 

JOEL  B.  HARRIS,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Car  Wheels, Rutland,  Vt. 

LEONARD  W.  HASKIN,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Battenville,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  B.  HYDE,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, 

DOUGLASS  W.  HYDE,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Pittstown,  N.  Y. 

JOSEPH  H.  JENNY,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Troy,  N.  Y. 

EDWARD  R.  KELLOGG,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Real  Estate  Agent, New  York  City. 

NATHAN  KELLOGG,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Maiden,  N.  Y. 

Louis  LA  COSTE,  C.  E., 

SENECA  H.  MARLETT,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Civil  and  Mining  Engineer,  and  Sur- 
veyor-General of  Nevada, Carson  City,  Nev. 

SOLOMON  V.  R.  MILLER,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Schaghticoke,  N.  Y. 

HENRY  POMEROY,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M., 
LODOWICK  STANTON,  JR.,  C.  E., 

GEORGE  TIBBITS,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Troy,  N.  Y. 

ROBERT  H.  VAN  BERGEN,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist, Coxsackie,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    1842. 

REED  B.  BONTECOU,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Troy,  N.  Y. 

DAVID  COLLIN,  JR.,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Agriculturist, Fayetteville,  N.   Y. 

HENRY  W.  DANFORTH,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Assessor,  U.  S.  Internal  Revenue, . . . 

Troy,  N.   Y. 

B.  FRANKLIN  GREENE,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics,  U. 

S.  Navy,  Bureau  of  Navigation, Washington,  D.  C. 

FITZ  EDWARD  HALL,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  D.  C.  L.,  Professor  of  Hindustani  and 

Hindu  Law  in  King's  College, London,  England. 

AARON  L.  LINDSLEY,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Clergyman, . .  .Portland,  Oregon. 

JOHN  MCCAUGHIN,  C.  E., 

*!RA  R.  PRATT,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Prattsburgh,  N.  Y. 

JAMES  WADE,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, ....  Cleveland,  0. 


20  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

CLASS    6F     1843. 

JAMES  CAMPBELL,  JR.,  B.  N.  S.,  Manufacturer  of  Linseed  Oil  Varnish 

Dayton,  O. 

CLARKSON  N.  POTTER,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

New  York  City. 

*THOMAS  B.  SMALL,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  M.  D.,  Physician, . . .  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    1844. 

JOHN  HENRY  BRODT,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  Clergyman, 

Williamsburgh,  N.  Y. 

JONATHAN  B.  RIDER,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Chatham,  N.  Y. 

GILBERT  T.  TAYLOR,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  General  Freight  Agent  on  the  Aspin- 

wall  and  Panama  Railroad, Panama,  C.  A. 

CLASS    OF     1845. 

JOSEPH  E.  CLARK,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

LEWIS  E.  GURLEY,  C.  E.,  A.  B.,  Manufacturer  of  Mathematical  Instruments, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 

^STEPHEN  E.  HASKELL,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer,. . Lansingburgh,  N.  Y. 
GOODWIN  LOWREY,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S., 

THOMAS  B.  RIDER,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Chatham,  N.  Y. 

JAMES  A.  SKILTON,  B.  N.  S.,  LL.  B.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    1846. 

JABEZ  P.  BLOSS,  B.  N.  S.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Troy,  N.  Y. 

SAMUEL  S.  GREELE,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  and  Superintendent  of  a 
Manufactory, Chicago,  III. 

*  WILLIAM  HALL,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Civil  Engineer, Mobile,  Ala. 

WILLIAM  A.  INGHAM,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  LL.  B.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at 
Law, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

ALEXANDER  M.  LESLEY,  B.  N.  S.,  Merchant New  York  City. 

JOHN  E.  MAY,  B.  N.  S.,  .C.  E.,  Merchant, Boston,  Mass. 

JONATHAN  R.  POWELL,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Agriculturist, Chatham,  N.  Y. 

JAMES  A.  PENFIELD,  B.  N.  S.,  Superintendent  of  Iron  Works, 

Crown  Point,  N.  Y. 

PERCIVAL  ROBERTS,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Builder  of  Iron  Bridges,  and  Manufac- 
turer of  Car  Axles, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JAMES  H.  SALISBURY,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Physician,  and  Professor  of 
Physiology,  Histology,  and  Pathological  Anatomy  in  Cleveland  Charity 
Hospital  Medical  College, Cleveland,  0. 

SAMUEL  W.  SUTHERLAND,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Bloominglon,  El. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.     .  21 

CLASS    OF     1847. 

ROBERT  G.  COOK,  B.  N.  S.,  Dalles,  Oregon. 

CHARLES  DROWNE,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  Director  of,  and  Professor  of  Me- 
chanics in  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute, Troy,  N.  Y. 

RICHARD  EDWARDS,  JR.,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  LL.  D.,  Principal  of  State  Normal 
University, Normal,  III. 

*GEORGE  A.  GALE,  B.  N.  S.,  Agriculturist, Northborough,  Mass. 

JOHN  W.  MURPHY,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  Bridge  Builder,  and  Con- 
tractor,   Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GEORGE  W.  PLYMPTON,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Physical  Science  in  Brook- 
lyn Collegiate  and  Polytechnic  Institute, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

*AUGUSTUS  ROSSMAN,  C.  E.,  Agriculturist, Claverack,  .N.  Y. 

ADRIAN  VAN  SINDEREN,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at 
Law, New  York  City. 

J.  FORMAN  WILKINSON,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  the  New  York 
Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad, Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

JOEL  R.  WOODRUFF,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the Railroad,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

*ALFRED  A.  WOTKYNS,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  B.,  Merchant, Troy,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF     1848. 

*JASPER  N.  BALL,  C.  E.,  A.  B.,  Clergyman, Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

A.  LAMONT  CHUBB,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  Manufacturer  of  Agricultural  Implements, 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

C.  FREDERIC  CREHORE,  C.  E.,  M.  D.,  Physician, Boston,  Mass. 

J.  FRANKLIN  HOUGHTON,  C.  E.,  Capitalist, Sacramento,  Cal. 

ISAAC  G.  JOHNSON,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Malleable  Iron, 

Spuyten  Duyvil,  N.  Y. 

ELMER  H.  LOCKE,  B.  N.  S., 

LEWIS  G.  LOWE,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  M.  D., Bridgewater,  Mass. 

J.  G.  NICKERSON,  B.  N.  S.,                                                                Lynn,  Mass. 
HENRY  SEDLEY,  C.  E.,  Associate  Editor  of  the  New  York  Times, 

New  York  City. 

JAMES  G.  THOMPSON,  B.  N.  S.,  Clerk  of  Chenango  County,.  .Norwich,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    1849. 

THOMAS  W.  BAILEY,  C.  E.,  Wapello,  la. 

CHARLES  A.  CUMMINGS,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Architect, Boston,  Mass. 

JOSEPH  S.  FISHER,  C.  E.,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

JAMES  H.  FROTHINGHAM,  B.  N.  S.,  C.  E.,  Merchant New  York  City. 

*GEORGE  M.  HALL,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Bastrop,  Texas. 

*HOLLAM  L.  PECK,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

GEORGE  B.  ROBERTS,  C.  E.,  B.  N.  S.,  First  Vice  President  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  Co., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

PORTER  ROCKENSTYNE,  C.  E., 


22  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

JULIUS  A.  SKILTON,  B.  N.  S.,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  U.  S.  Consul  General, 

Mexico  City,  Mex. 

GEORGE  A.  STEARNS,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Boston,  Muss. 

*BENJAMIN  TURNER,  C.  E.,  late  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Nicaragua  R.  R.,  . . 

Nicaragua. 

ALFRED  WILKINSON,  C.  E.,  Banker, Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    1850. 

EDWARD  A.  H.  ALLEN,  C.  E.,  Principal  of  Sawin  Academy,  .Sherborn,  Mass. 
JOHN  F.  BARNARD,  C.  E.,  General  Superintendent  of  the  Kansas  City,  St. 

Joseph,  and  Council  Bluffs  Railroad, St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

*  JAMES  W.  BRADSHAW,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Lamingburyh,  N.  Y. 

*Jos6  TELL  FERRAO,  B.  S.,  Principal  of  School  for  Young  Ladies, 

Bahia,  Brazil. 

CORNELIUS  S.  MASTEN,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Rochester  and  State 

Line  Railroad, Rochester,  N.  Y. 

NATHANIEL  MORTON,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Plymouth,  Mass. 

R.  WILLARD  WARE,  C.  E.,  Resident  Engineer  on  the  Delaware  Division  of 

the  Erie  Railroad, Port  Jervis,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    185  1  . 

WILLIAM  H.  BURRALL,  C.  E.,  Mechanical  Engineer Springfield,  Mass. 

DAVID  M.  GREENE,  C.  E.,  Deputy  Engineer  of  the  State  of  New  York, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 

*CHARLES  L.  LOOMIS,  C.  E.,  late  Division  Engineer  on  the  Minneapolis  and 

Cedar  Valley  Railroad, Northfield,  Minn. 

S.  EDWARD  WARREN,  C.  E.,  Professor  of  Descriptive  Geometry,  Stereotomy, 

and  Drawing  in  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology, .  .Newton,  Mass. 
(In  consequence  of  the  extension  of  the  Courses  of  Study,  none  were 
graduated  in  the  year  1852.) 

CLASS    OF    1853. 

JOHN  A.  BAGLEY,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  York  City. 

FREDERIC  0.  BURHANS,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  a  Manufactory, 

Warrensburgh,  N.  Y. 

DASCOM  GREENE,  C.  E.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  in  Rens- 

selaer  Polytechnic  Institute, Troy,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  M.  OSBORNE,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Rock  Island,  III. 

WILLIAM  TWEEDDALE,  C.  E.,  City  Engineer, Topeka,  Kan. 

GEORGE  C.  WATRISS,  C.  E.,  Draftsman,  Pacific  Iron  Works, 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


CLASS    OF     1854. 


23 


CALVIN  ACKLEY-,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Kinderhook,  N.  Y. 

*THOMAS  K.  BALTZELL,  C.  E.,  late  Assistant  Engineer  on  the R.  R., 

Tallahasse,  Fla. 

J.  MORTON  CLINCH,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Chronometers  and  Astronomical 

Clocks, Boston,  Mass. 

HENRY  CURTIS,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, . . .  Rock  Island,  III. 
*  JOSEPH  A.  MOAK,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Richmond,  Va. 

CLASS    OF    1855. 

JAMES  T.  ALLEN,  B.  S.,  Associate  Principal  of  the  English  and  Classical 
School, West  Newton,  Mass. 

FRANCIS  COLLINGWOOD,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  East  River  Suspen- 
sion Bridge, New  York  City. 

*CHARLES  E.  CROSS,  C.  E.,  late  Capt.  U.  S.  Engineers, Lawrence,  Mass. 

FREDERIC  GRINNELL,  C.  E.,  President  and  Joint  Proprietor  of  the  Provi- 
dence Steam  and  Gas  Pipe  Co., .Providence,  R.  I. 

HENRY  HOLMES,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Salem,  Mass. 

AUGUSTO  DE  LACERDA,  B.  S.,  Agent  for  the  U.  S.  and  Brazil  Mail  Steam- 
ship Co., Bahia,  Brazil. 

CLASS    OF    1856. 

C.  WHITMAN  BOYNTON,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Woodbridge,  N.  J. 

LEICESTER  BURNETT,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  and  Chief  Engineer  of  Fremont, 
Elk  Horn  Valley,  and  Missouri  River  Railroad,..  .  .Missouri  Valley,  la. 

*NICHOLAS  H.  CHAMBERLAINE,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Keokuk,  la. 

JOHN  M.  CLARKE,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Chicago,  111. 

JOSEPH  P.  DAVIS,  C.  E.,  Principal  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  St.  Louis  Water 
Works, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

JOHN  D.  ESTABROOK,  C.  E.,  Engineer  of  Construction,  Fairmount  Park,. . . . 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GEORGE  F.  ELLS,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Long  Eddy,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  C.  MARTIN,  C.  E.,  Principal  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  East  River 
Suspension  Bridge, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  H.  MARTIN,  C.  E.,  Bridge  Builder  on  the  California  Pacific  Rail- 
road,   San  Francisco,  Cal. 

HIRAM  F.  MILLS,  C.  E.,  Hydraulic  Engineer, Lawrence,  Mass. 

JOHN  H.  QUACKENBUSH,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Troy,  N.    Y. 

GILMAN  TRAPTON,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  and  member  of  the  Louisville  Bridge 
and  Iron  Co., Louisville,  Ky. 

WILLIAM  W.  WALKER,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  Burlington,  Cedar  Rapids, 
and  Minnesota  Railroad,  and  President  of  Sioux  City  and  Pembina 
Railroad  Co., Cedar  Rapids,  la. 


24  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

JOHN  A.  WILSON,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engiheer  of  Bennett's  Branch   Extension  of 

the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

EDMUND  YARDLEY,  C.  E.,  

CLASS    OP1    1857. 

FREDERIC  Y.  DABNEY,  C.  E.,  Dry  Grove,  Miss. 

ROBERTO  ESCOBAR,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

*T.  ORLANDO  HOPKINS,  C.  E.,  late  Civil  Engineer  and  County  Surveyor,. .  .  . 
.  . .  Alvarado,  Cal. 

G.  FREDERIC  KIRBY,  C.  E.,  Banker, Chicago,  III. 

GABRIEL  LEVERICH,  C.  E.,  Mechanical  and  Consulting  Engineer, 

New  York  City. 

CHARLES  MACDONALD,  C.  E.,  Engineer  and  Contractor  for  the  Construction 
of  Iron  and  Wooden  Bridges, New  York  City. 

*JoiiN  OSTROM,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Virginia  City,  Nev. 

WILLIAM  M.  PRATT,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Meriden,  Conn. 

WASHINGTON  A.  ROEBLING,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  East  River  Suspen- 
sion Bridge, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

*FRANCISCO  TRUJILLO,  C.  E.,  First  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Havana  Rail- 
road,   Havana,  Cuba. 

HEZEKIAH  WATKINS,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  LL.  B.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 
New  York  City. 

DE  VOLSON  WOOD,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Stevens  Insti- 
tute of  Technology, Hoboken,  N.  J. 

CLASS    OF    1858. 

JAMES  C.  COIT,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  Planter, Cheraw,  8.  C. 

THEODORE  COOPER,  C.  E.,  Second  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  II.  S.  Navy, 

Steamer  "Nyack"  South  Pacific. 

WILLIAM  HOWARD  DOUGHTY,  C.  E.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

ALBERT  H.  EMERY,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  York  City. 

CLARK  FISHER,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, .  .  Trenton,  N.  J. 

HENRY  HARLEY,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Neiv  York  City. 

GEORGE  HUNT,  C.  E.,  Civil  and  Mining  Engineer, Gold  Hill,  Nev. 

JOSEPH  M.  KNAP,  C.  E.,  Vice  President  of  the  Fort  Pitt  Foundry  Company,. 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  METCALF,  C.  E.,  Joint  Proprietor  of  the  Crescent  Steel  Works,. . .  . 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

*HENRY  W.  MERIAN,  C.  E.,  late  Third  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy, 

Steamer  "  Weehawken." 

ARIO  PARDEE,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  Coal  Mines, Hazlelon,  Pa. 

GEORGE  H.  PEIRCE,  C.  E.,  Mining  Engineer, Montreal,  C.  E. 

*JOSEPH  G.  RICE,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  arid  Superintendent  of  Silver  Mines, 

Bear  Valley,  Mariposa  Co.,  Cal. 

L.  FREDERIC  RICE,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  —  -  Railroad,. . ,  Ga. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  25 

RICHARD  P.  ROTHWELL,  C.  E.,  M.  E.,  Editor  of  Mining  and  Engineering 
Journal, New  York  City. 

J.  GARDNER  SANDERSON,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Scranton,  Pa. 

JOSEPH  M.  WILSON,  C.  E.,  Engineer  of  Bridges  and  Buildings,  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CHARLES  W.  WINSLOW,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Canada  Southern 
Railroad, St.  Thomas,  Ontario,  Canada. 

CLASS    OF    1859. 

ALEXANDER  J.  CASSATT,  C.  E.,  General  Manager  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Jos6  N.  CASANOVA,  B.  S.,  Cardenas,  Cuba. 
WALTER  CRAFTS,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  Shelby  Iron  Works, 

Columbians,  Ala. 

ORMOND  W.  FOLLIN,  B.  S.,  San  Francisco,  Cdl 

ALBERT  S.  GREENE,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy,  in  chai-ge  of 

Boiler  Experiments, Newburgh,  N.  Y. 

GEORGE  M.  GREENE,  C.  E.,  Passed  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy, 

THEODORE  I.  HEIZMANN,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer,  Maintenance  of  Way, 

Pennsylvania  Railroad, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

*JAMES  R.  PERCY,  C.  E.,  late  Capt.  U.  S.  Engineers,  (Volunteers,) 

Fowler's  Mills,  0. 

HARRISON  A.  ROYCE,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Boston,  Mass. 

RUSSELL  SAGE,  2d,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  Chicago  Division  of  the 

Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railroad, ...  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

ARTHUR  B.  DE  SAULLES,  B.  S.,  First  Assistant  Mining  Engineer,  Schuylkill 

Coal  Co.,  • Woodside,  Pa. 

FRANK  G.  SMITH,  C.  E.,  Captain  and  Brevet  Major  4th  U.  S.  Artillery,. 

ROBERT  I.  SLOAN,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Trenton,  N.  J. 

LORENZO  J.  DE  VISCARRONDO,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Cordova  and 

Malaga  Railroad, . Malaga,  Spain. 

NORMAN  A.  WILLIAMS,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer,  Vtica,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    I860. 

JAMES  W.  BIRDSALL,  T.  E.,  Merchant, New  York  City. 

ALBERTO  DE  CASTRO,  T.  E.,  Municipal  Architei-t  of  Havana, . .  Havana,  Cuba. 
Luiz  DA  R.  DIAS,  JR.,  T.  E.  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Don  Pedro  II. 

Railroad, Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

RICHARD  D.  DODGE,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

EDWARD  M.  GRANT,  C.  E.,  Engineer  and  Contractor  for  Machinery,  Bridges, 

and  Grant's  Patent  Wrought  Iron  Piers, .  .- Macon,  Ga. 

HENRIQUE  HARRIS,  T.  E.,  C.  E.,  Merchant, New  York  City. 

GEORGE  C.  HOLTON,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Belleville,  C.  W. 

RAMON  MATAS,  T.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Barcelona,  Spain. 

D 


26  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

CHARLES  MCMILLAN,  C.  E.,  Professor1  of  Civil  and  Mechanical  Engineering 

in  Lehigh  University, South  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

CALVIN  PARDEE,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Coal  Mines,  Hazleton,  Pa. 
JOHN  PEMBERTON,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Second  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy,  and 

Assistant  Professor  of  Natural  and   Experimental  Philosophy  in  U.  S. 

Naval  Academy, Annapolis,  Md. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEARLES,  C.  E.,  Consulting  Civil  and  Mechanical  Engineer,.  . .  . 

New  York  City. 

*AURELIO  SERRANO,  C.  E.,  late  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Croton  Water 

Works, New  York  City. 

WILLIAM  S.  SIMPSON,  B.  S.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

CHARLES  E.  SMITH,  C.  E.,  LL.  B.,  Civil  Engineer, Troy,  N.  Y. 

FELIX  R.  R.  SMITH,  C.  E.,  Planter, Arkansas  Pout,  Ark. 

*CHARLES  B.  THOMPSON,  B.  S.,  Banker  and  Manufacturer,. .  .  .Rockford,  III. 
JOHN  D.  VAN  BUREN,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Department  of  Docks, 

New  York  City. 

CLASS    OF    1861. 

WILLIAM  L.  BALDWIN,  C.  E.,  M.  D.,  Physician, .  Utica,  N.  Y. 

ALFRED  P.  BOLLER,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Civil  and  Consulting  Engineer,  and  Bridge 
Architect, New  York  City. 

*EBENEZER  P.  BUCKINGHAM,  C.  E.,  late  Superintendent  of  Oil  Wells, 

Mi.  Vernon,  0. 

*JAMES  CROMWELL,  C.  E.,  late  Major  U.  S.  Infantry,  (Volunteers,) 

Cornwall,  N.  Y. 

RUFUS  H.  EMERSON,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  FENTON,    C.   E., 

JOSEPH  G.  Fox,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Civil  and  Topographical  Engineer- 
ing in  Lafayette  College, Easton,  Pa. 

EST£VAN  A.  FUERTES,  C.  E.,  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in  Cornell  Uni- 
versity,   Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

BURDETT  GOWING,  C.  E.,  Passed  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  L.  HASKIN,  C.  E.,  Captain  and  Brevet  Major  1st  U.  S.  Artillery,. . 
Charleston,  S.  C. 

WARREN  T.  KELLOGG,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Troy,  N.  Y. 

JAMES  LALLY,  C.  E.,  Merchant, New  York  City 

ANTHONY  T.  E.  MULLIN,  C.  E.,  Passed  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy, 
New  Orleans,  La. 

ROBERT  NEILSON,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  Elmira  and  Canandaigua  Division 
of  Northern  Central  Railroad, Elmira,  N.  Y. 

T.  GUILFORD  SMITH,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Secretary  of  Union  Iron  Go.,Bu/alo,  N.  Y. 

THADDECS  S.  SMITH,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  St.  Louis  Water  Works, 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  27 

MOSHEU  A.  SUTHERLAND,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, New  York  City. 

WILLIAM  N.  SYMINGTON,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  American  Barytes  Co., 
Alexandria,  Va. 

CLASS    OF     1862. 

WILLIAM  L.   ADAMS,  C.  E.,  Professor  of   Geodesy,  Road  Engineering,  and 

Topographical  Drawing  in  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  S.  AUCHINCLOSS,  C.  E.,  Vice  President  of  the  Jackson  and  Sharp 

Car  and  Coasting  Vessel  Building  Co.,. Wilmington,  Del. 

*NATHAN  W.  BUCKHOUT,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  Burkesville,  Ky. 

RICHARD  H.  BUEL,  C.  E.,  Consulting  Mechanical  Engineer, .  New  York  City. 

HORACE  CROSBY,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 

ARBA  R.  HADDOCK,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

ANICETO  G.  DE  MENOCAL,  C.  E.,  Engineer  Navy  Yard,. .  Washington,  D.  C. 
JOHN  C.  UNDERWOOD,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  and  Superintendent  of  Bridges, 

Bowling  Green,  Ky. 

PETER D.VROOM,  JR.,  C.  E.,  1st  Lieut.  3d  U.  S.  Cavalry,. Fort  McPherson,  Neb. 

CLASS    OF    1863. 

FRANCIS  E.  APPLETON,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road,   Omaha,  Neb. 

VAN  BRUNT  BERGEN,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Brooklyn  Water  Works, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

*PERCY  T.  BROWNE,  C.  E.,  late  Division  Engineer  on  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road,   Omaha,  Neb. 

JAMES  P.  GOULD,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Delhi  and  Middletown  Rail- 
road,   Delhi,  N.  Y. 

FRANK  HINCKLEY,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Western  Pacific  Railroad, 
. .  , San  Francisco,  Cal. 

FRANCISCO  R.  NARANJO,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Coquimbo,  Chile. 

AUGUSTUS  E.  W.  PAINTER,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Iron  Works,. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

BENJAMIN  C.  POTTS,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law,  Newark,  N.  J. 

GEORGE  T.  STODDER,  C.  E., 

EDWIN  THACHER,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Louisville  Bridge  Co., 

Louisville,  Ky. 

IGNACIO  M.  DE  VARONA,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

FREDERIC  W.  VAUGHAN,  C.  E.,  Principal  Assistant  Engineer,  Louisville 
Bridge  Co., Louisville,  Ky. 

CLASS    OF    1864. 

PETER  H.  Fox,  C.  E.,  Harrisburgh,  Pa. 

RALPH  G.  PACKARD,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer  and  Contractor,  .Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


28  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

ROBERT  VAN  BURKN,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Brooklyn  Water  Works, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

CHRISTOPHER  C.  WAITE,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  and  Superintendent  of  the 

Cincinnati  and  Muskingum  Valley  Railroad, Zanesville,  0. 

DRAKE  WHITNEY,  C.  E.,  Joint  Proprietor  of  Cataract  House, 

Niagara  Falls,  -V.  Y. 

HENRY  W.  WILSON,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Construction  Department  of 

the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CLASS    OF    1865. 

GEORGE  B.  BRAINERD,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

SAMUEL  BUEL,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  York  City. 

CLIFFORD  BUXTON,  C.  E.,  U.  S.  Assistant  Engineer, ....  Gloucester  City,  N.  J. 

THOMA§  M.  CLEEMANN,  A.  M-,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer Philadelphia,  Pa. 

HENRY  H.  FARNUM,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  South  Side  Railroad 

of  Long  Island, Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

JOHN  W.  GRISWOLD,  B.  S.,  Superintendent  of  a  Manufactory,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
HORACE  LOOMIS,  C.  E.,  Principal  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  New  York  and 

Erie  Railroad, Hoboken,  N.  J. 

MARSHALL  H.  MALLORY,  C.  E.,  Proprietor  of  the  "  Churchman," 

, Hartford,  Conn. 

Jose"  R.  DA  S.  PiRAjd,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Don  Pedro  II. 

Railroad, , Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

THOMAS  C.  RAYMOND,  C.  E.,  Boston,  Mass. 

JOHN  C.  THOMPSON,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  Railroad  Department 

of  Crown  Point  Iron  Co., Crown  Point,  N.  Y. 

ALFRED  T.  WHITE,  C.  E.,  Merchant, New  York  City. 

CLASS    OF    1866. 

*  ALEXANDER  ADDISON,  C.  E.,  late  Student  of  Mining  Engineering, 

Clausthal,  Prussia. 

CHARLES  C.  CRAFT,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

THEODORE  N.  ELY,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  Machine  Shops  of  the 

Pennsylvania  Railroad, Altoona,  Pa. 

HERBERT  C.  FELTON,  C.  E.,  Engineer,  Manchester  and  Camden  Railroad,. . . 

Camden,  N.  J. 

JOHN  Q.  A.  FORD,  C.  E.,  Second  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy,. . . . 

Steamer  "Pensacola." 

WILLIAM  P.  HARRIS,  C.  E.,  Contractor  for  Public  Works, Chicago,  III. 

G-EORGE  M.  HUNT,  C.  E.,  Teacher, North  Argyle,  N.  Y. 

THOMAS  L.  KNAP,  C.  E.,  General  Superintendent  of  the  Fort  Pitt  Foundry, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

BENJAMIN  N.  LILIENTHAL,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  New  York  Mill,  for 

the  Golden  Chariot  Co., Silver  City,  Idaho. 

ALUON  P.  MAN,  Jr.,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, La  Crosse,  Wis. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  20 

CHARLES  P.  PERKINS,  A.   M.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Elmira  and 
Canandaigua  Division  of  Northern  Central  Railroad,. .  .Elmira,  N.  Y. 

JOSEPH  C.  PLATT,  Jr.,  C.  E.,  President  of  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Co.,  Manu- 
facturers of  the  Eddy  Patent  Valve  and  Bailey  Patent  Hydrant, 

Water  ford,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  W.  RAE,  C.  E.,  Second  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy,  U.  S. 
Flagship European  Squadron. 

JOHN  S.  SCHAEFFER,  C.  E.,  First  Assistant  Engineer,  Newark  Aqueduct,. 

.  .Newark,  N.  J. 

HOLLAND  N.  STEVENSON,  C.  E.,  Second  Assistant  Engineer  in  the  U.  S. 
Navy,  

FRANK  N.  TREVOR,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Machinery, LocJcport,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  H.  WILEY,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  Tunnel  Hill  Coal  Co., 

Zanesville,  0. 

CLASS    OF    1867. 

A.  W.  FERREIRA  D'AGUIAR,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,..  .New  York  City. 

PALMER  H.  BAERMANN,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Albany,  N.  Y. 

ARTHUR  BEARDSLEY,  C.  E.,  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  and  Industrial 

Mechanics  in  the  University  of  Minnesota Si.  Anthony,  Minn. 

ABRAHAM  B.  Cox,  Jr.,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Resident  Engineer,  Leighton  Bridge 

and  Iron  Works, Rochester,  N.  Y. 

*Jos6  ESCOBAR,  C.  E.,  Trinidad,  Cuba. 

SAMUEL  J.  FIELDS,  C.  E.,  Engineer,  Niagara  Bridge  Works,.  .Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

MAX  L.  GOLDSTEIN,  C.  E.,  

CERLOS  GUERRERO,  B.  S.,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer,  Sagua  Railroad, 

Sagua  la  Grande,  Cuba. 

*  ALBERT  M.  HARPER,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

FRANK  J.  HEARNE,  C.  E.,  Joint  Proprietor  of  Riverside  Furnace, 

Wheeling,  W..  Va. 

Jose"  HERNANDEZ,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  E.  ILLSLEY,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  First  Assistant  City  Engineer, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ERNESTO  L.  LUACES,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  Puerto  Principe,  Cuba. 

GEORGE  B.  MALLORY,  C.  E.,  Marine  Engineer, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

THOMAS  F.  MARSHALL,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  Engineer  on  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road,  Rock  Island,  III. 

ALBERT  H.  MILLET,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer  to  the  Republic  of  Ecuador,  S.  A., 

Quito,  Ecuador. 

FRANK  L.  MOORE,  C.  E.,  Real  Estate  Agent, Denver,  Col. 

CHARLES  H.  Moss,  C.  E.,  Bloomfield  Iron  Mines, Roaring  Spring,  Pa. 

C.  VALLETTE  PETTI  BONE,  C.  E.,  Merchant, Fond  du  Lac,  Wis. 

JOHN  SALTAR,  Jr.,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer  to  the  Republic  of  Ecuador,  S.  A., 

Quito,  Ecuador. 

POMPEYO  SARIOL,  C.  E.,  Cordova,  Mex. 


30  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

FRANCIS  H.  SAYLOR,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Engineer  and  Bridge  Builder, 

Philadelphia,  TV 

MILO  A.  SMITH,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer, Detroit,  Mich. 

WILLIAM  B.  STILSON,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Delaware  Division 
of  the  Erie  Railroad, Port  Jervift,  N.  Y. 

CYRUS  R.  STONE,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Lake  Superior  and  Mis- 
sissippi River  Railroad, Hinckley,  Minn. 

CLASS    OF    1868. 

JOSEPH'J.  ALBRIGHT,  M.  E.,  Real  Estate  and  Securities, ..  Washington,  D.  C. 

THOMAS  APPLETON,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Portland,  Me. 

Jose"  J.  A.  DE  BARCELLOS,  B.  S.,  C.  E.,  Sugar  Cane  Planter, 

Campos,  Brazil. 

STEPHEN  W.  BARKER,  M.  E.,  Merchant, White  Creek,  N.  Y. 

VTRGIL  G.  BOGUE,  C.  E.,  Division  Engineer  on  the  Callao,  Lima,  and  Oroya 
Railroad,  Peru,  S.  A., .  .  .  Lima,  Peru. 

ROSWELL  E.  BRIGGS,  C.  E.,  Civil  and  Hydraulic  Engineer, 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

LEFFERT  L.  BUCK,  C.  E.,  Engineer  in  charge  of  the  Verrugas  Viaduct, 
Callao,  Lima,  and  Oroya  Railroad,  Peru,  S.  A., Surco,  Peru. 

JOSEPH  H.  CAMPBELL,  M.  E.,  Superintendent  Iron  Works, fronton,  0. 

GASPAR  F.  DE  CEBALLOS,  C.  E.,  Remedios,   Cuba. 

MORDECAI  T.  ENDICOTT,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer,  U.  S.  Navy  Yard, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

FRANCIS  F.  FAY,  M.  E.,  'Troy,  N.  Y. 

GEORGE  T.  HALL,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Eastern  Division  of 
the  New  York  State  Canals, Whitehall,  N.  Y. 

BENJAMIN  R.  LAWRANCE,  B.  S.,  Merchant, New  Orleans,  La. 

ALTER  MEGEAR,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  the  Edge  Moor  Iron 
Works, Edge  Moor,  Del. 

WILLIAM  W.  MILLS,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  York  City. 

OTHNIEL  F.  NICHOLS,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Callao,  Lima,  and 
Oroya  Railroad,  Peru,  S.  A., Lima,  Peru. 

HARWOOD  V.  OLYPHANT,  C.  E.,  Acting  President  of  the  Delaware  and  Hud- 
son Canal  Co., Albany,  N.  Y. 

AMBROSE  V.  POWELL,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

C.  RIDGELY  SCHOTT,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Bureau  of  Civil  and  Topo- 
graphical Engineering,  Department  of  Public  Parks, 

New  York  City. 

GEORGE  S.  SKILTON,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Mexico  City,  Mex. 

THEODORE  S.  SMITH,  Jr.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Jersey  City  and 
Albany  Railroad, Stony  Point,  N.  Y. 

IRVING  A.  STEARNS,  M.  E.,  Civil  and  Mining  Engineer, W'dkexlarre,  Pa. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  31 

CLASS    OF     1869. 

TRUMAN  H.  ALDRICH,  M.  E.,  Miner  and  Shipper  of  Coal,. . .  MontevaHo,  Ala. 

ROBERTO  ANZOLA,  C.  E.,  La  Palm  a,  New  Granada. 

EDWARD  W.  ARMS,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Mathematical  Instruments, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 

ROBERT  B.  C.  BEMENT,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Chicago,  Dubuque,  and 
Minnesota  'Railroad Dubuque,  la. 

ALEXANDER  M.  BLACK,  C.  E.,  Kensington  Iron  Works, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

FREDERICK  J.  BOLLER,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  York  City. 

HENRY  BURDEN,  JR.,  M.  E.,  Burden  Iron  Works, Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  N.  BURGESS,  M.  E.,  Resident  Engineer  on  the  Davenport  and  St. 
Paul  Railroad, Davenport,  la. 

ROBERT  FORSYTH,  C.  E.,  Manager  of  the  Bessemer  Department,  North  Chi- 
cago Rolling  Mill, Chicago,  111. 

HENRY  G.  MCCLELLAN,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Southern  Railroad  of 
Ecuador,  S.  A., Quito,  Ecuador. 

JOSEPH  MULLIN,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law, 

Watertown,  N.    Y. 

WILLIAM  A.  PECK,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  New  York  and 
Canada  Railroad, ....  Keeseville,  N.  Y. 

ROBERT  C.  PEEBLES,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Pittsburgh  Division 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

JOHN  PIERPONT,  M.  E.,  Assistant  U.  S.  Engineer  on  Improvement  of  River 
Navigation, Chicago,  III. 

JOHN  SQUIRES,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Buffalo  and  Jamestown 
Railroad, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

ARTHUR  B.  STARR,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie 
Railroad, Erie,  Pa. 

LOWELL  H.  STONE,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, West  Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  A.  THOMPSON,  C.  E.,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Sussex  Railroad,. .  . 
Newton,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  H.  UTLEY,  M.  E.,  Merchant, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

THEODORE  VOORHEES,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  Rensselaer  and  Saratoga  Divi- 
sion, Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Co., Saratoga,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF    187O. 

HENRY  N.  BABCOCK,  M.  E.,  Assistant  U.  S.  Engineer  in  charge  of  Coast  Im- 
provements,   Newport,  R.  I. 

*  JOSEPH  T.  BAILY,  C.  E.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ANTHONY  H.  BLAISDELL,  C.  E.,  Assistant  TJ.  S.  Engineer  in  charge  of  the 
Survey  and  Improvement  of  Osage  River, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ARTHUR  E.  BOARDMAN,  C.  E.,  City  Engineer, Macon,  (Ja. 

JUAN  GONZALEZ,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Matanzas,   Cuba. 

JACOB  E.  HEYL,  B.  S.,  Chemist  at  Sugar  Refinery, Philadelphia,   Pa. 

*GEORGE  H.  MANN,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, New  Haven,  Conn. 


32 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


CHARLES  R.  MATHER,  M.  E.,  Assistant  U.  S.  Engineer  on  the  Coast  Survey, 

Newport,  R.  I. 

THOMAS  O'NEIL  MORRIS,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Indianapolis  and 

St.  Louis  Railroad,.  ...  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

ROBERT  C.  XEAL,  M.  E.,  Mining  Engineer, Bloomsburgh,  Pa. 

GEORGE  D.  NICKEL,  M.  E.,  Deputy  U.  S.  Surveyor  of  Public  Lands, 

Denver,  Col. 

EDWARD  PARRISH,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Construction  Department 

of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JOHN  H.  RANDOLPH,  C.  E.,  Planter, Bayou  Goula,  La. 

JAMES  D.  REYNOLDS,  C.  E.,  Consulting  and  Executive  Engineer, 

Chicago,  III. 

HENRY  A.  ROWLAND,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Physics  in  Rensselaer 

Polytechnic  Institute, .  •. Troy,  N.  T. 

NATHANIEL  E.  RUSSELL,  C.  E.,  Assistant  U.  S.  Engineer  in  charge  of  the 

Improvement  of  River  Navigation, Appleton,  Wis. 

CHARLES  H.  SCOTT,  M.  E.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JUSTUS  M.  SILLIMAN,  M.  E  ,  Professor  of  Mining  Engineering  and  Graphics 

in  Lafayette  College, Easton,  Pa. 

*EDWARD  SOTHERS,  M.  E.,  Valparaiso,  Chile. 
WILLIAM  C.  STRAWBRIDUE,  M.  E.,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  La\v, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CLASS    OF    1871. 

FEDERICO  M.  ALCOVER,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Sagua  la  Grande,  Cuba. 

MIGUEL  DE  T.  ARGOLLO,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

WILLIAM  L.  BAKER,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Detroit  Bridge  and  Iron 
Works, Detroit,  Mich. 

WILLIAM  S.  BATES,  M.  E.,  Student  at  Law, Cincinnati,   0. 

ALFRED  S.  BERTOLET,  M.  E.,  Instructor  in  Analytical  Chemistry  in  Rens- 
selaer Polytechnic  Institute, Troy,  N.  Y. 

HENRY  M.  BOARDMAN,  C.  E.,  Country  Surveyor, Board-man,  0. 

ARTHUR  W.  BOWER,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Instructor 
in  Mechanics  in  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute, Troy,  N.  Y. 

MILTON  W.  ENSIGN,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Galveston,  Harris- 
burgh,  and  San  Antonio  Railroad,  Flatonia,  Tex. 

ALBERT  W.  FOSTER,  C.  E.,  Madison,   Ga. 

FRED.  L.  GARLINGHOUSE,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  New  York  and  Erie 
Railroad, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

ALBERTO  V.  DE  GOICOURIA,  C.  E.,  Broker, New  York  City. 

CHARLES  L.  GRIMES,  C.  E.,  Manufacturer  of  Farming  Implements, 

Mansfield,  0. 

ALFRED  P.  KIRTLAND,  C.  E.,  Resident  Engineer  on  the  West  Pennsylvania 
Division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, Blairsville,  Pa. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  33 

GEORGE    C.  MACGREGOR,  C.  E.,  Assistant    Engineer^   Construction   Depart- 
ment of  Pennsylvania  Railroad, Altoona,  Pa. 

M.  WILLIAM  MANSFIELD,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Zanesville,  0. 

*  J.  HARROD  MARKS,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Southern  Pacific  Rail- 
road,   Jefferson,  Tex. 

HENRY  G.  MORSE,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Wrought  Iron  Bridge  Co., . . . 
Canton,  0. 

EDWARD  NICHOLS,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Superintendent  Steel  Works, 

Lewiston,  Pa. 

JOHN  B.  OTTO,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Williamsport,  Pa. 

RICHARD  PRESCOTT,  M.  E.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Natural  Science  in  Albany 
Free  Academy, Albany,  N.  Y. 

SPENCER  V.  RICE,  C.  E.,  Instructor  in  Graphics  and  Field- Work  in  Lehigh 
University, South  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

CHARLES  G.  ROEBLING,  C.  E.,  Wire  Rope  Manufacturer, Trenton,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  F.  ROPES,  M.  E.,  Merchant, -. Indianapolis,  Ind. 

RICHARD  SCHERMERHORX,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Park  Avenue  Railroad, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

RUSSELL  D.  WALBRIDGE,  C.  E.,  Superintendent  of  Metallurgical  Works, . . . . 
Brooklyn,  Cal. 

THOMAS  M.  WILLIAMSON,  M.  E.,  Superintendent  of  the  Coal  Department  of 

the  Grand  Tower  Mining,  Manufacturing,  and  Transportation  Co.,. . . . 

Grand  Tower,  111 

CLASS    OF    1872. 

WILLIAM  A.  I.  AIKIN,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Mining  Engineer, Pioche,  Nev. 

JOHN  F.  ALDEN,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Leighton  Bridge  and  Iron  Works} 

, Rochester,  N.  Y. 

GEORGE  BURNHAM,  JR.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Fairmount  Park, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  H.  BURR,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer,  Phillipsburgh  Bridge  Co.,. . . 

Phillipsburgh,  N.  J. 

W.  LEE  CHURCH,  C.  E.,  Ludlow  Valve  Works, Troy,  N.  Y. 

FEDERICO  G.  GARCIA,  C.  E.,  Lima,  Peru. 

HARVEY  M.  GEER,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer  and  Contractor, Troy,  N.  Y. 

GEORGE  H.  LEA,  C.  E.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GRAHAM  MACFARLANE,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  of  Mines,  Fall  Brook  Coal 

Co., ,  Pa. 

ELIAS  P.  MANN,  G.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  MARLING,  C.  E.,  Moncton,  N.  B. 

DAVID  REEVES,  C.  E.,  Clark,  Reeves  &  Co.,  Builders  of  Wrought  Iron 

Bridges,  Phwnixville,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  B.  SHERMAN,  C.  E.,  Civil  and  Hydraulic  Engineer,  Fall  River,  Mass. 
ELLERY  STOWELL,  C.  E., 


34  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

ALEXANDER  J.  SWIFT,  C.  E.,  A.  M.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Troy  Bridge, 
Troy,  N.  Y. 

ALFRED  WALTER,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  in  charge  of  the  Swamp  Division 
of  Bonnet's  Branch  Extension  of  Alleghany  Valley  Railroad,. ...... 

, Jefferson  Line,  Pa. 

JONAS  F.  YOUNG,  C.  E.,  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF     1873. 

ARTHUR  L.  BAKER,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in 
Lafayette  College, Easton,  Pa. 

JAMES  E.  BELL,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Cleveland,  Columbus, 
Cincinnati,  and  Indianapolis  Railroad, Cincinnati,  0. 

ABRAHAM  BLUN,  B.  S.,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

*FRED  M.  BRYANT,  C.  E.,  Late  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Hoosac  Tunnel, 
.North  A  dams,  Mass. 

CHARLES  CAMPBELL,  C.  E.,  Ironton,  0. 

JOHN  H.  CURTIS,  C.  E.,  Division  Engineer,  1st  Division  of  the  Southern 
Railroad  of  Ecuador,  S.  A., Milagro,  Ecuador,  S.  A. 

JAMES  DUANE,  C.  E.,  Assistant  U.  S.  Engineer, Portland,  Me. 

ARTHUR  J.  FRITH,  C.  E.,  Instructor  in  Civil  and  Mechanical  Engineering 
in  Lehigh  University, South  Bethlehem.,  Pa. 

CHARLES  P.  HARRIS,  C.  E.,  Dealer  in  Lumber,  and  Manufacturer  of  Doors, 
Blinds,  &c., Rutland,  Vt. 

JOHN  G.  HUMPHREYS,  C.  E.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

NORMAN  B.  KELLOGG,  C.  E.,  Civil  Engineer, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

THOMAS  J.  LONG,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

MANUEL  A.  PELAEZ,  A.  B.,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

B.  WALKER  PETERSON,  A.  M.,  C.  E.,  Wheeling,  W.  Va. 

JAMES  REED,  Ph.  B.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road,   Altoona,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  H.  REEVES,  C.  E.,  Clark,  Reeves  &  Co.,  Builders  of  Wrought  Iron 
Bridges, Phcenixville,  Pa. 

PEDRO  J.  SOSA,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

THEODORE  STEINACKER,  C.  E.,  Architect, Chicago,  111. 

D.  AUGUSTUS  TOMPKINS,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Bessemer  Steel 
Works, Bethlehem,  Pa. 

HERMAN  VOORHEES,  C.  E.,  New  York  City. 

T.  CHESTER  WALBRIDGE,  C.  E.,  Vice-President  of  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Manu- 
facturing Co., Watcrford,  N.  Y. 

CLASS    OF     1874. 

JAMES  X.  CALDWELL,  Jr.,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Cleveland  and 
Sandusky  Railroad, Cleveland,  0. 

GEORGE  W.  CARNRICK,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  Hudson  River  Im- 
provements,   Troy,  N.  Y. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  35 

LYMAN  E.  COOLEY,  C.  E.,  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in  Northwestern 
University, Evanston,  III. 

WILLIAM  J.  FABIAN,  C.  E.,  Assistant  U.  S.  Engineer  on  Improvement  of 
Connecticut  River  Navigation, .Hartford,  Conn. 

FRANK  L.  FORD,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Cleveland  and  Sandusky 
Railroad, Cleveland,  0. 

ALEXANDER  P.  GEST,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Northern  Central 
Railroad, Canton,  Pa. 

GEORGE  S.  GRIFFEN,  C.  E.,  Under  instruction  in  the  Works  of  the  Phoenix 
Iron  Co., Phcenixville,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  P.  MASON,  C.  E.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

HARRY  D.  PATTISON,  C.  E.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  H.  POWLESS,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  Roanoke  River  Im- 
provements,   Norfolk,  Va. 

ENRIQUE  C.  ZEGARRA,  C.  E.,  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Chimbote  Canal,. . . 
Peru,  8.  A. 


36  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  INSTITUTE 

Who  did  not  Complete  the  Full  Course. 


The  years  denote  the  time  of  entering,  without  regard  to  Class,  or  length  of  time  in 
attendance. 


1824-9. 

AUGUSTUS  BAGLEY, Staten  Island. 

JOHN  K.  BIGELOW, Cummington,  Mass. 

NATHAN  BROCKWAY, Oswego. 

JOHN  HOWARD  BRYANT, Cummington,  Mass. 

SAMUEL  BUEL, Troy. 

DANIEL  B.  CADY, Schoharie. 

MARCH  CHASE, Drewsville,  N.  H. 

LEWIS  T.   COBB, Cummington,  Mass. 

DANIEL  0.  COMSTOCK, Lockport. 

AUGUSTUS  COLLINS, Sparta,  Ga. 

WILLIAM  CORNELL, Troy. 

LUTHER  CROSS, Grafton,  N.  H. 

AMOS  B.  EATON, Troy. 

THOMAS  H.  EATON, Randolph,  Mass. 

JONATHAN  ELY,  A.  M., Chittenango. 

BELA  FOSTER,  A.  B., Hanover,  N.  H. 

DARWIN  GIBSON, Sandy  Hill. 

RICHARD  H.  HALE,  M.  D., Troy. 

WILLIAM  G.  HANIFORD, Enfield,  N.  H. 

OSCAR  HANKS,   Troy. 

WILLIAM  A.  HITCHCOCK,  M.  D., Orwell,  Vt. 

FERRIS  JACOBS, Schoharie. 

*WILLIAM  A.  KING, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JOHN  E.  MAY, Pittstown. 

ROBERT  McMANUS, Troy. 

ROBERT  PETER,  Jr., Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

*AUGUSTUS  PITCHER, Albany. 

JOHN  H.  PHILIP, Kinderhook. 

GEORGE  PHILIP, Claverack. 

THOMAS  W.  PRATT, Boston,  Mass. 

BENJAMIN  RICHARDS, White  Creek. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

JOSEPH  RICHARDS,  M.  D., White  Creek. 

GEORGE  W.  SEWARD, Warwick. 

CHARLES  SHERWOOD, Elmira. 

GEORGE  SMITH, Henrietta. 

JAMES  M.  TRIMBLE, Hillsboro,  0. 

COURTLAND  VAN  RENSSELAER,  A.  B., Albany. 

GEORGE  WILLIAMS, Troy. 

JOHN  WRIGHT, Troy. 

GEORGE  W.  WESTON, Sandy  Hill. 

RICHARD  H.  WILLIAMS Middlesex. 

1829-31. 

WILLIAM  AIKEN,  M.  D., Onondaga. 

JAMES  C.  BOOTH, New  York. 

FRANKLIN  BRADLEY,  M.  D., Manchester,  Vt. 

LEGRAND  B.  CANNON, Troy. 

JOHN  CASSIDY, New  York. 

ELIPHALET  CRAMER, , Troy. 

MARTIN  CRANDALL, Sandlake,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  S.  DISBROW, Troy. 

JAMES  B.  DUNGAN, Canandaigua. 

CHARLES  DUVAL,  M.  D., Schaghticoke. 

WILLIAM  B.  EATON, Troy. 

CHARLES  H.  FELLOWS, Troy. 

ASA  E.  FOSTER, Erie,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  H.  FREELAND, Claverack. 

JOHN  F.  FRENCH, Hartford. 

CHARLES  GARDNER, Troy. 

JOHN  H.  HAYNES, Nassau. 

CALVIN  HOLLISTER, Pawlet,  Vt. 

AMOS  S.  HUTCHINSON, Ackworth,  N.  H. 

HOLLISTER  LATHROP, Sherburne,  Mass. 

Rev.  Mr.  LEAVEN  WORTH, Missionary, 

PHILANDER  MOORE, Fort  Ann. 

GEORGE  M.  NOBLE, Tinmouth,  Vt. 

JAMES  PICKETT, Pittstown. 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE, Ontario. 

F.  W.  POWELL, .Middlebury,  Vt. 

CHARLES  ROBERTSON, .  .Curracoa,  W.  I. 

AUGUSTUS  SLINGERLAND, Albany. 

JOHN  THOMSON, Albany. 

CHARLES  F.  TUTTLE, Troy. 

E.  VAN  ALLEN, Bloomingdale. 

JOSEPH  M.  WARREN, Troy. 

DANIEL  WILLIAMS, Troy. 

EDWIN  WILMARTH, Salem. 


37 


38  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

1832-3. 

ELMER   W.  ADAMS, Canton,  Conn. 

ORLA  BEALS, Lansingburgh. 

WILLIAM  H.  BEARS, Newborn ;  X.  C. 

WILLIAM  W.  BROCKWAY, Troy. 

JOHN  G.  BUEL, Troy. 

DANIEL  H.  BURTIS, Troy. 

ELIAM  E.  BARNEY, Lowville. 

SAMUEL  BUEL,  A.  B., Troy. 

THEODORE  E.  CLARK, 

GEORGE  H.  CRAMER, New  York. 

EDWARD  0.  EATON, Troy. 

DAVID  S.  EIGENBRODT,  M.  D., Jamaica,  L.  I. 

A.  W.  FISHER, Halifax,  Vt. 

CHARLES  FREIOT, Troy. 

JOSEPH  GARY,  Jr., Troy. 

THOMPSON  HOLLISTER, Troy. 

WILLIAM  HOLLISTER, Troy. 

CALVIN  HUNTINGTON, Vermont. 

FERRIS  JACOBS,  M.  D., Washington,  D.  C 

HENRY  LANE, Troy. 

WILLIAM  LANSING, Lansingburgh. 

FRANCIS  R.  LIVINGSTON, Red  Hook. 

JAMES  S.  MAY, Pittstown. 

JOHN  K.  MYERS, Whitehall. 

WILLIAM  H.  NORTON, Nassau. 

*CHARLES  L.  PRESCOTT, Troy. 

ALBERT  E.  POWERS, Lansingburgh. 

WILLIAM  L.  READ, Pittstown. 

Rev.  GEORGE  SCARBOROUGH, Brooklyn,  Conn. 

WILLIAM  R.  SCHUYLER, Ovid. 

CHARLES  SHERWOOD,. Elmira. 

CHARLES  SMITH, Coeymans. 

ISAAC  SMITH, New  York. 

JOHN  W.  SPRAGUE, Troy. 

HENRY  M.  SWIFT, Georgia. 

JOSIAH  M.  TALBOT, Maine. 

ASA  P.  THAYER, Troy. 

CHARLES  C.  TRACY, Troy. 

JAMES  W.  UNDERBILL, Troy. 

STEPHEN  WICKES, Jamaica.  L.  I. 

JOHN  H.  WILLARD, Troy. 

JOSEPH  L.  WHITE, Cherry  Valley. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  39 

1834-5. 

*OLIVER  A.  ARNOLD, Troy. 

HALL  JACKSON  BIRGIN, Athenstown,  X.  H. 

*PKTKR  A.  BURDEN, Troy. 

WILLIAM  HOLLIS  CADES, Albany. 

CHARLES  A.  COOK,    Troy. 

GARRET  DRAKE, Troy. 

CUVIER  EATON, Troy. 

ZINA  PITCHER  EGLESTON, Troy. 

PETER  FELLOWS, Greenbush. 

NATHAN  D.  GARNSEY, Clifton  Park. 

JOSEPH  S.  GARY, Troy. 

WILLIAM  S.   HAIGHT, Troy. 

JOSEPH  ABEL  HASKINS, Brunswick. 

LANSING  HODGEMAN, Stillwater. 

*ARTHUR  HANKS, Troy. 

CHARLES  HENRY  LINDLEY, Troy. 

CHARLES  NICHOLS  LOCKWOOD, Troy. 

PETER  GEORGE  PHILIP, Claverack. 

LEWIS  L.  SOUTHWICK, Troy. 

1835-6. 

HENRY  G.  ADAMS, Brunswick. 

NELSON  B.  BETTS, Troy. 

JACOB  HENRY  DATER, Troy. 

WALTON  W.  EVANS,. New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

WILLIAM  R.  GUEST,. New  York. 

HENRY  W.  HEWITT, Troy. 

CHARLES  MILLER, Truxton. 

DAVID  PRICE, Troy. 

CHARLES  H.  RUSSELL, Hebron. 

SAMUEL  SHERRERD, Belvidere,  N.  J. 

H.  MARTIN  SMITH, West  Troy. 

JOSEPH  0.  SMITH, Caledonia. 

WARREN  S.  SMITH, New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

JAMES  A.  SUFFERN, Haverstraw. 

THOMAS  A.  TILLINGHAST, Troy. 

1836-7. 


HENRY  ANDREWS, 

ROYAL  WHEELER  BAKER, Fort  Ann. 

JOHN  T.  BLATCHFORD, Troy. 

THEODORE  F.  BOUDINOT, Parsippany. 

JOSEPHUS  C.  BROCKWAY, Middlebury,  Vt. 

JOHN  BULL, Canandaigua. 


40  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

NATHAN  H.  CAMP, <» Troy. 

WILLIAM  B.  CONSTABLE, Schenectady. 

ANDREW  B.  CROSS, Saratoga. 

ANDREW -A.  DOUGLASS, Stephentown. 

WILLIAM  HILLHOUSE, Watervliet. 

JOHN  HOOPER, Troy. 

ISAAC  LAW, Salem. 

JONATHAN  H.  MERRITT, Half  Moon, 

SAMUEL  J.  MILLS, Guilford,  Conn. 

SILAS  C.  NEWTON,    Glens  Falls. 

JACOB  PAINTER, Middletown,  Pa. 

PETER  H.  RICE, Whitehall. 

STOUGHTON  X.  TAYLOR, Ballston. 

WESTERLO  VAN  RENSSELAER, Albany. 

ADDISON  G.  WILLIAMS, Pompey. 

*CHARLES  M.  YVONNETT, Troy. 

1837-8. 

CHARLES  0.  BENEDICT, Saratoga. 

CYRUS  BENTLEY, Xew  Lebanon. 

ALBERT  W.  CURTIS, Sheffield,  Mass. 

MATTHEW  DORR  CLARK, West  Bloomfield 

JAMES  T.  CORNELL, Wilton. 

PRESTON  DENTON, Saratoga. 

KUTOEK  L.  DRAKE, Troy. 

MALIK  S.  DICKERMAN, Troy. 

*THEODORE  D.  JUDAH, Xew  York. 

XATHAN  K.  MASTEN, Troy. 

CHARLES  R.  MALLORY, Austerlitz. 

JAMES  OAKEY, Sc'haghticoke. 

EDWARD  E.  SPOOR, Avon,  Conn. 

W.  W.  THEOBALD,   Albany. 

JOHN  GEORGE  WHITTAKER, Xew  York. 

1838-9. 

SAMUEL  C.  BIGELOW, Troy. 

JAMES  A.  BRAZELTON, Xewmarket,  Tenn. 

REUBEN  BUCK,  . .  . Waterford. 

JAMES  L.  CRAMER, Northumberland. 

JOHN  C.  CRAMER, Waterford. 

ISAAC  DRAKE, Troy. 

J.  HUMBOLDT  EATON, Troy. 

RICHARD  H.  FRANCHOT, Butternuts. 

GEORGE  X.  GATES, Louisiana. 

*CHARLES  S.  HEARTT, , Troy. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  4! 

PETER  A.  LADIEU, Troy. 

GERRITT  G.  LANSING, New  York. 

WILLIAM  MILLS, Troy. 

ROBERT  W.  RUTHERFORD, Lodi,  N.  J. 

SYLVESTER  E.  SPOOR, Troy. 

WILLIAM  S.  STEDMAN,    Troy. 

1839-4O. 

WILLIAM  H.  COLE, Watervliet. 

HUGH  CONNITY, Waterford. 

IRA  FORD, Hoosack. 

*ROBERT  LAY, Springfield. 

HIAL  KENYON  PARSONS, Colebrook,  N.  H. 

WILLIAM  MCMANUS  STORM, Eaton. 

*WILLIAM  G.  VOUGHT, Victor. 

HERMAN  WHIPPLE,     Shaftsbury,  Vt. 

JOHN  D.  YATES, Schenectady. 

184O-1. 

SEWELL  W.  HALL, Troy. 

EZRA  E.  HOWARD, Williamsville. 

WILLIAM  A.  LEE, Granville. 

WILLIAM  H.  PRATT, Chatham. 

GEORGE  N.  SHARP, Troy. 

JOHN  B.  TIBBITTS, Troy. 

1841-2. 

ELIJAH  BRYAN,  2d,    Schaghticoke. 

JOHN  H.  COOK, Hanover,  N.  J. 

G.  MERRIAM  FISHER, Lansingburgh. 

ERASTUS  GEER, Troy. 

JOHN  P.  REILAY, Troy. 

WILLIAM  H.  ROSSITER, Troy. 

JOHN  SHAW, Troy. 

JAMES  H.  SHERRILL, New  Hartford. 

GRAHAM  R.  WICKES, Troy. 

1842-3. 

WILLIAM  BONESTEEL, Grafton. 

CLARENCE  BUEL, Troy. 

JOHN  G.  BUSWELL, Troy. 

GEORGE  E.  DOUGLASS,    New  York. 

JOHNSON  H.  EATON, Troy. 

FRANCIS  K.  FIELD, Maiden. 

DERRICK  LANE, Troy. 

F 


42  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

SIDNEY  W.  PARK, «, Troy. 

NATHANIEL  B.  POWERS, Lansingburgh. 

ADAM  R.  SMITH, Troy. 

STEPHEN  SWEET, Watervliet. 

BRAINE  WALSH, Lansingburgh. 

1843-4. 

RICHARD  D.  BLOSS, Troy. 

OLIVER  T.  BURT, Syracuse. 

CHARLES  E.  CALLENDER, Manluis. 

JAMES  R.  CHAMBERLIN, Troy. 

CHARLTON  H.  DAVIS, Troy. 

JOSEPH  K.  DOWNING, Bristol,  Pa. 

GEORGE  H.  EATON, Troy. 

ISAAC  M.  McCoNiHE, Troy. 

WILLIAM  R.  SHAW, Troy. 

1844-5. 

H.  W.  BRINSMADE, Troy. 

THEODORE  BROOKS, Brunswick. 

WILLIAM  H.  BULL, Troy. 

JOHN  S.  CRARY, Salem. 

JOHN  W.  DORLON, Troy. 

Louis  A.  FELLOWS, Troy. 

LUSHER  GAY, Troy. 

GEORGE  C.  HALL, Troy. 

HENRY  S.  HATCH, Troy. 

JONAS  S.  HEARTT, Troy. 

ALBERT  HOLTOX,.  .  % Troy. 

ED\VARD  HUBBKLL,    Troy. 

HENRY  G.  LANDON, Troy. 

WILLIAM  W.  McCoNiHE, Troy. 

ROBERT  F.  SILLIMAN, Troy. 

JOHN  H.  WARREN, Troy. 

JOHN  P.  WILLARD, Troy. 

1845-6. 

HALSEY  BRAINARD, Troy. 

WILLIAM  F.  BURDEN, Troy. 

WILLIAM  H.  BURTIS, Troy. 

MATTHIAS  M.  COOK, Hanover,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  R.  GOODRICH, Lansingburgh. 

JAMES  A.  GRAY, Herkimer. 

JOHN  S.  MALLARY, Troy. 

HIRAM  MCCHESNEY,  .  Troy. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

SAMUEL  L.  PALMER, Chatham. 

GEORGE  PEACOCK, Troy. 

WILLIAM  POWERS, Lansingburgh. 

JEDEDIAH  RANDALL, .Norwich. 

ROBERT  M.  RANDALL, Syracuse. 

JAMES  T.  SARGENT, Sandy  Hill. 

NICHOLAS  G.  VAN  MEERTKN, Paramarabo. 

NICHOLAS  VAN  NAMEE, Pittstown. 

JOHN  E.  WARREN, Troy. 

1846-7. 

JOHN  A.  E.  ABBOTT, Waltham,  Mass. 

NATHANIEL  F.  ALLEN,   Northboro,  Mass. 

NATHANIEL  T.  ALLEN, Medfield,  Mass. 

JAMES  H.  BALL, Nassau. 

GEORGE  L.  BARKER, New  Lebanon. 

JOHN  A.  GOODWIN, Bridgewater,  Mass. 

JOHN  HAMMOND, Crown  Point. 

T.  CHARLTON  HENRY, Syracuse. 

THOMAS  B.  HEERMANS, .Syracuse: 

CHARLES  M.  HOLTON, ...  .Brunswick. 

JOHN  F.  KIDDER, Syracuse. 

GARDNER  LANDON,  Jr., . .  .Troy. 

DANIEL  MARBLE, Troy. 

CHARLES  D.  ROSSITER, Brooklyn. 

L.  A.  ROUSSEAU, Troy. 

J.  DAYTON  F.  SMITH, Hamilton. 

H.  E.  THAYER, Troy. 

JOHN  I.  THOMPSON, Troy. 

1847-8. 

CHARLES  S.  ABBOTT,    Bath,  N.  H. 

THOMAS  D.  CAMMACK, New  Orleans. 

AUGUSTUS  P.  CHAMBERLAIN,  A.  B., Salem,  Mass. 

HENRY  CLUM, Brunswick. 

D.  CADY  EATON, New  Haven,  Conn. 

GEORGE  H.  EVEREST, New  Lebanon. 

WILLIAM  B.  GUERNSEY, Norwich. 

BENJAMIN  MARBLE, Troy. 

W.  HENRY  MERRIAM,    Troy. 

JOHN  J.  MOPFATT,   Stephentown. 

JAMES  NEAL, .Portland,  Me. 

JOHN  W.  OSBORN, Watervliet. 

DAVID  B.  PARSONS, Hoosick  Falls. 

A.  B.  STRAWBRIDGE, New  Orleans. 


43 


44  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

J.  A.  SULLIVAN, .«• Boston,  Mass. 

WILLIAM  S.  THOMAS, Norwich. 

HENRY  B.  WARREN, Troy. 

1848-9. 

JOHN  C.  BELL, Roxbury,  Mass. 

RICHARD  BLOSS,  Jr., Troy. 

CALVIN  BUSH, Nassau. 

W.  0.  CARPENTER, Troy. 

BLOOMFIELD  W.  CASWELL, Herkimer. 

HARVEY  B.  DAUCHY,    Troy. 

NATHAN  DAUCHY, Troy. 

JOHN  EDSON, .  .  .  Bridgewater,  Mass 

F.  A.  GOODNOUGH, Troy. 

J.  P.  HOAG, Sandy  Hill. 

JAMES  IRVINE, Kingsbury,  Ala. 

FRANCIS  IRVINE, -. .  Kingsbury,  Ala. 

EDWARD  R.  JOHNSON, Albany. 

JOHN  N.  MILLER, Niskayuna. 

GEORGE  A.  MURDOCK, Brookline,  Mass. 

ACHILLES  J.  ROUSSEAU, Troy. 

FREDERICK'D.  TATOR, Troy. 

SAMUEL  M.  VAIL, Troy. 

EDWARD  WADE, Watervliet. 

Louis  H.  WEAVER, Troy. 

J.  CLIFFORD  YEAGER, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

LEWIS  E.  YORKE, Salem,  N.  J. 

1849-50. 

HORATIO  AMES,  Jr., Falls  Village,  Ct. 

JOHN  E.  BAKER, Schaghticoke. 

HAMPDEN  BUEL, Troy. 

JOHN  G.  BUEL, Troy. 

JAMES  A.  BURDEN, Troy. 

CHARLES  W.  BURRAGE, Leominster,  Mass. 

AARON  BURT, Syracuse. 

H.  M.  CHASE Pittsburgh. 

0.  W.  CLARY, Syracuse. 

WILLIAM  B.  COGSWELL, Syracuse. 

HIRAM  COLE, Kingsbury,  Ala. 

*SILAS  T.  COVELL, Troy. 

THOMAS  DAVIS, Templetou,  Mass. 

JACOB  A.  DIVER, Melrose. 

WILLIAM  L.  DROWNE, Canaan. 

J.  D.  FOUQUET, Plattsburgh. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

JOHN  M.  FOUQUET, Pittsburgh. 

EUGENE  HODSON, Florida. 

JOSEPH  H.  HOWARD, Brooklyn. 

M.  E.    BUTTON, Troy. 

SAMUEL  L.  IRISH, Chatham. 

J.  H.  KNICKERBACKER, Schaghticoke. 

JOHN  M.  LANDON, Nassau. 

AUGUSTUS  LANE, Key  West,  Fla. 

JAMES  R.  LARKIN, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ALBERT  L.  LEE, Fulton. 

HENRY  LESTER, Syracuse. 

ABIEL  T.  LOOMIS, Fulton. 

A.  W.  McMuRRAY, Lansingburgh. 

H.  A.  MIDDLETON,  Jr., Charleston,  S.  C. 

GEORGE  H.  NETTLETON, Springfield,  Mass. 

RICHARD  B.  NOTES, Southport,  Wis. 

E.   A.  PUTNAM, Syracuse. 

SIMON  P.  SCHERMERHORN, Mohawk. 

C.  E.  DUDLEY  TIBBITTS, Troy. 

AUGUSTUS  W.  TWING, Lansingburgh. 

CHARLES  H.  WARREN, Pittstown. 

CHARLES  S.  WARREN, Troy. 

CHARLES  WELLINGTON, Syracuse. 

P.  WHITE, Troy. 

P.  P.  WINTERMUTE, Elmira. 

WILLIAM  E.  YOUNG, New  York. 

185O-1. 

*  AUGUSTUS  E.  BABCOCK, Troy. 

JAMES  G.  BALTON, Troy. 

RIPLEY  R.  CALKINS, Avoca. 

ABIJAH  C.  CURTIS, Great  Barrington,  Mass. 

SAMUEL  D.  DAVIS, Troy. 

JAMES  A.  EDDY, Troy. 

TITUS  C.  EDDY, Troy. 

CHARLES  S.  HICKS, Troy. 

WILLIAM  P.  HUBBARD, Bangor,  Me. 

GEORGE  T.  LANE, Troy. 

HORATIO  LLOYD, Salem. 

ALEXANDER  C.  Low, Dover,  N.  H. 

J.  R.  MALLARY, Troy. 

HORACE  MAXWELL, Louisville,  Ky. 

ROBERT  E.  MEYER, Troy. 

GEORGE  L.  MOODY, Boston,  Mass. 


45 


46  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

J.  HENRY  NICHOLSON, *. Buffalo. 

JAMES  G.  PATTON,   Brunswick. 

*T.  H.  PIERCE, Williamsburg. 

FREDERICK  R.  STOWE, Troy. 

WILLIAM  A.  THOMPSON, Troy. 

H.  H.  WARD, Brooklyn. 

WILLIAM  S.  WILLIAMS, Syracuse. 

1851-2. 

DANIEL  ATWOOD, Boston,  Mass. 

CHARLES  H.  BALLARD, Charlemont,  Mass. 

NATHANIEL  T.  BARTLETT, Plymouth,  Mass. 

GEORGE  C.  BELL, Amsterdam. 

EDWARD  H.  BROWN, Syracuse. 

JOHN  OTIS  BURT, Syracuse. 

JOHN  C.  CLIFFORD, Buffalo. 

FREDERICK  W.  COLEMAN, New  York. 

CHARLES  H.  FISHER, Lansingburgh. 

ISAAC  D.  FISHER, Boston,  Mass. 

NATHANIEL  FISHER,  Jr., Northboro,  Mass. 

EDMUND  B.  FRENCH, Troy. 

JOB  P.  GRANT, Schaghticoke. 

BRYAN  GRANT, Schaghticoke. 

GEORGE  B.  HUNT, Huntsville,  Conn. 

GEORGE  E.  KIMBERLY Chicago,  111. 

JOHN  H.  LEAVITT, Charlemont,  Mass. 

JOHN  H.  MAXON, Adams. 

SAMUEL  McCoNiHE, Troy. 

GEORGE  H.  MOON, Hillsdale. 

REUBEN  NICKERSON, Bangor,  Me. 

MYRON  PLATT, Glens  Falls. 

DUANE  SIMMONS, Glens  Falls. 

JAMES  G.  SMITH, Chicopee,  Mass. 

WALTER  M.  SMITH, Newark,  0. 

TENCH  F.  TILGHMAN, Oxford,  Md. 

EUGENE  L.  WILLIAMS, Syracuse. 

PRESTON  C.  F.  WEST, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

B.  FRANKLIN  WOODPORD, Mt.  Morris. 

1852-3. 

ROBERT  T.  ADRIANCE, Poughkeepsie. 

STEPHEN  E.  BABCOCK, Troy. 

*EDWARD  D.  BARTON, Troy. 

*JOHN  P.  BEACH, Troy. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

.  MANNING  C.  BLACKSTOXE,  ...............  Adams. 

OLIVER  P.  BUEL,  ......................  Troy. 

ELIAS  E.  CORYELL,  ............  .  ........  New  Hope,  Pa. 

HEBER  CRANE,  .........................  Detroit,  Mich. 

CHARLES  D.  CURTIS,    ...................  Adams. 

BURR  DAUCHY,  ........................  Troy. 

DANIEL  CADY  EATON,  ...................  New  Haven,  Conn. 

NEWTON  EDDY,  .......................  Waterford. 

A.  PARK  HAMMOND,  ....................  Rockville,  Conn. 

HENRY  F.  HAYWARD,  ...................  Kingston,  C.  W. 

ROMANUS  HODGMAN,  ....................  Chelmsford,  Mass. 

HENRY  LOHNES,  ........................  Schaghticoke. 

*GEORGE  A.  MASON,  .....................  Chicago,  111. 

G.  W.  MEYLERT,  .......................  Milford,  Pa. 

FRANCIS  K.  MIDDLETON,  .................  Charleston,  S.  C. 

JOHN  M.  MOTT,  Jr.,  .....................  Lansingburgh. 

FRANKLIN  A.  MORSE,  ...................  East  Poultney,  Vt. 

MATTHEW  P.  MYERS,  ...................  Troy. 

WILLIAM  P.  OPENHEIMER,   ..............  Ponce,  Porto  Rico. 

M.  PELTON,  ...........................  Syracuse. 

CHARLES  H.  RICHARDS,  ......  .  ...........  Warrensburgh. 

ALEXANDER  H.  SHARPS,  ................  Salem. 

OVID  T.  SIMMONS,  ......................  Saugerties. 

CLEMENT  H.  SINNICKSON,  ................  Salem,  N.  J. 

*  JAMES  S.  THORN,  ......................  Troy. 

CORNELIUS  L.  TWING,  ..................  Lansingburgh. 

B.  C.  McVicKAR,  .....................  Chicago,  111. 

J.  WATSON  WEBB,  Jr.,  ..................  New  York. 

J.  WATSON  "WEBB,  2d,  ..................  New  York  City. 

J.  BECKWITH  WEST,  ....................  Washington,  D.  C. 

1853-4. 

JAMES  BAPTISTE,  ......................  Troy. 

HENRY  F.  BIRGE,  .....................  .  .  .Troy. 

FREDERICK  BRAEM,  ..........    ..........  Poughkeepsie. 

ROBERT  T.  BURNS,  ......................  Toronto,  C.  W. 

JOHN  CAMP,  Jr.,  ......................  Norwalk,  Conn. 

EDWARD  CAMPBELL  ....................  Niagara,  C.  W. 

JAMES  CARPENTER,  .....................  Demorestville,  C.  W. 

JEROME  M.  CHAPMAN,  ..................   Farmington,  111. 

H.  S.  CHATFIELD,  ......................  New  York. 

HENRY  S.  CHURCH,  .....................  Troy. 

FREDERICK  R.  CURTIS,  ..................  New  York. 

FRANCIS  C.  DRAPER,  ....................  Toronto,  C.  W. 

LEBBEUS  EGERTON,  Jr.,  ............  ,    .    .  .Troy. 


47 


48  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, t Lansingburgh. 

BYRON  F.  FRISBIE, Watertown. 

H.  S.  GATZMER, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

EDWIN  R.  GRIDLEY, Hudson. 

JOSEPH  GREER, New  York. 

J.  L.  HICKES, New  York. 

GEORGE  P.  B.  HILL, New  York. 

EDWARD  HARLESTON, Charleston,  S.  C. 

WILLIAM  W.  HENRY, Grand  Rapids,  Mich 

EUSTIS  HUGER, Fort  Munroe,  Va. 

WILLIAM  D.  JARVIS, Toronto,  C.  W. 

DAVID  T.  JENKINS, Vernon. 

HAYWARD  JONES, Troy. 

WILLIAM  P.  KELLOGG, Lansingburgh. 

CAROLAN  J.  KINSEY, Clifton  Mills. 

ANTONIO  F.  DE  LACERDA, Bahia,  Brazil. 

ROBERT  C.  LAISDELL, Lansingburgh. 

JOSEPH  B.  LIVINGSTON, Trenton,  N.  J. 

GEORGE  W.  LYLE, Athens. 

CHARLES  MACGUIRE, West  Troy. 

G.  ELLIOTT  MACOMBER, Ballstown. 

JOHN  J.  MACPHERSON, Charleston,  S.  C. 

CHARLES  W.  MANN, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

EDMUND  H.  MURNEY, Belleville,  C.  W. 

AUSTIN  B.  PAIGE, Unity,  N.  H. 

JAMES  H.  PLACE, .      Rochester,  N.  H. 

WILLIAM  D.  POWELL, Niagara,  C.  W. 

LONGWORTH  POWERS, Florence,  Italy. 

CHARLES  C.  POPE, Syracuse. 

CHARLES  M.  B.  PRIOLEAU, Charleston,  S.  C. 

MANUEL  QUINTANA, Havana,  Cuba. 

WILLIAM  RADENHURST, Toronto,  C.  W. 

*WILLIAM  A.  ROBERTSON, Rahway,  N.  J. 

JOHN  ROFF, .Watervliet. 

CHARLES  E.  ROWLAND, Charleston,  S.  C. 

JOHN  W.  Ross, Troy. 

GEORGE  H.  SANFORD, Ballston. 

J.  STERLING  SMITH, Geneseo. 

JAMES  M.  TYLER, Hillsdale. 

ROBERT  B.  THURSTON Huntington,  L.  I. 

JAMKS  G.  TRACY, Syracuse. 

ARTEMAS  WOOD, Lansingburgh. 

E.  H.  WELCH, Lambertville,  N.  J. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  40 


1854-5. 

JOHN  A.  ABERT, Washington,  D.  C. 

ARUNA  M.  ADSIT, Troy. 

GEORGE  W.  BOUTELLE, Bennington,  Vt. 

A.  E.  BROWNING,   '. Trenton,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  D.  BURRUS, West  Troy. 

JEHIEL  W.  CHENEY, Massena. 

D.  E.  CORNELL, Hoosick. 

BENJAMIN  E.  CRANE, Athens,  Ga. 

DAN.  B.  DORSEY, Watertown. 

JOHN  D.  P.  Douw, Greenbush. 

OLIVER  B.  FILLEY, Lansingburgh. 

HENRY  P.  GERRISH, Newburyport,  Mass. 

G.  R.  GIDDINGS, Jefferson,  0. 

EDWIN  R.  GRIDLEY,    Hudson. 

CHARLES  HARRIS, New  York. 

DEWITT  C.  HAYES, Watertown. 

J.  W.  HEIMSTREET, Troy. 

E.  PEARCE  HORNE, Milledgeville,  Ga. 

RICHARD  HURLEY,   Troy. 

BENJAMIN  F.  JOHNSON, Belleville. 

•    GEORGE  P.  JOHNSON, Plymouth,  Mass. 

CHARLES  HENRY  JONES, Reading,  Pa. 

BEVERLY  R.  KEIM, Reading,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  S.  KIMBALL ' Lawrence,  Mass. 

BENTON  L.  KINGSBURY, Towanda,  Pa. 

JOHN  C.  KINZIE,  Jr., Chicago,  111. 

ROBERT  T.  LUCE, .Yonkers. 

R.  L.  MAXON, Stowell's  Corners. 

FREDERICK  G.  McKEAN, Baltimore,  Md. 

FREDERICK  MERCUR,  .    . . .' Towanda,  Pa. 

J.  CALDWELL  NEWTON, New  York. 

GEORGE  PADDOCK, Watertown. 

FREDERICK  SHELLY, Troy. 

THEODORE  D.  SELLECK, Norwalk,  Conn. 

WILLIAM  C.  STARR, Trenton,  N.  J. 

*CLIFFORD  STICKNEY, Chicago,  111. 

CHARLES  A.  STETSON,  Jr., New  York. 

L.  M.  SWIFT, Cornwall,  Conn. 

CHARLES  TEN  EYCK, Schodack. 

EGBERT  TEN  EYCK, Schodack. 

THOMAS  W.  THURSTON, Huntington,  L.  I. 

EDWARD  A.  TROTTER, New  York. 

ALBERTUS  WEBB, Trenton,  N.  J. 

G 


50  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

WILLIAM  D.  WELLS, ^ Troy. 

MALCOLM  E.  WILLIAMS, Syracuse. 

1855-6. 

RICHARD  L.  ANNESLEY, Albany. 

HILL  BARKER, Bangor,  Me. 

R.  M.  BENEDICT, .  .New  York. 

DAVID  H.  BUEL, Poughkeepsie. 

I.  TOWNSEND  BURDEN, Troy. 

W.  F.  CORNISH,   Bethlehem,  N.  J. 

WILSON  CROSBY, 

GEORGE  S.  DAAVSON, Albany. 

RICHARD  H.  DOUGHTY, Troy. 

RICHARD  P.  H.  DURKEE, New  York. 

*THOMAS  EATON, Troy. 

WILLIAM  GILBERT, Troy. 

*CHARLES  0.  GRAY, Warrensburgh. 

HENRY  M.  HELLER, Clintonville. 

J.  LAWRENCE  HICKS, Flushing. 

EMKLIO  M.  HIDALGO, Cienfuegos,  Cuba 

BARON  HIGMAN, Newport,  R.  I. 

THEODORE  HUBBELL, Troy. 

A.  MAYOR  LAWVERE, Freeport,  111. 

N.  B.  LORD, Nassau. 

JAMES  MACDONALD, Albany. 

FRANCIS  H.  PARKKR, Oswego. 

V.  A.  PUGSLEY, Anienia. 

HENRY  REDMUND, Orange,  N.  J. 

CARLOS  E.  SAUVALLE, Havana,  Cuba. 

DANIEL  F.  SCIIKNCK, Oswego. 

JUSTING  NUNES  DK  SENTO-SK, Bahia,  Brazil. 

PLINY  T.  SEXTON, Roehester. 

ALEXANDER  SMITH,.  . Orange,  N.  J. 

FRANCIS  K.  STEVENS, Poughkeepsie. 

FREDERICK  W.  TRIPPE, Newark,  N.  J. 

JAY  WESTINGHOUSE, Schenectady. 

THOMAS  G.  WOOD, Albany. 

1856-7. 

HENRY  S.  ADAMS, Chicopee,  Mass. 

FRANK  P.  AMSDEN, Scranton,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  P.  ANDERSON, Cincinnati,  0. 

MILTON  S.  BRADSHAW, Lansingburgh. 

JAMES  D.  BUTLER, Groton,  Mass. 

WILLIAM  B.  CHAPMAN, New  York. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

DANIEL  CARHART, Clinton,  N.  J. 

JOHN  B.  CARPENTER, Wyoming,  Pa. 

EUGENE  M.  COPELAND, Fort  Ann. 

FRED  F.  DURAND, New  York. 

CYRUS  F.  EMERY, Mexico. 

CHARLES  R.  FLOYD, St.  Marys,  Ga. 

HENRY  F.  GREENE, Syracuse. 

CHAUNCY  E.  IVES, Lansingburgh. 

*THOMAS  L.  JOHNSTON, Troy. 

NATHAN  N.  KEELER,.  ...   : Salem. 

T.  ELLERY  LORD, Albany. 

WILLIAM  G.  MYERS, Canton,  Miss. 

DUDLEY  OLCOTT, Albany. 

JAMES  H.  PERRY, Troy. 

M.  S.  PRUDHOMME, Opelousas,  La. 

ROBERT  F.  E.  REDINGTON, Troy. 

WILLIAM  W.  ROUSSEAU, Troy. 

THOMAS  ROWLAND, Alexandria,  Va. 

FRANCISCO  R.  SABAT, St.  Johns,  P.  R. 

JAMES  C.  STODDER, Boston,  Mass. 

JOHN  H.  TAYLOR, Newark,  N.  J. 

EDWARD  L.  TOPP, Memphis,  Tenn. 

RUSH  VANLEER, Nashville,  Tenn. 

ISAAC  P.  WODELL, Ellisburgh. 

JOHN  WYLIE,    Iroquois,  C.  W. 

1857-8. 

ANTONIO  S.  CASANOVA, Cienfuegos,  Cuba. 

CHARLES  H.  DAUCHY, Troy. 

CHARLES  D.  FISHER, Lansingburgh. 

JAMES  M.  HAWLEY, Troy. 

JOHN  R.  HALSEY, Newark,  N.  J. 

GKORGE  P.  HERTHEL, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

*EDGAR  HORSEFALL, Schenectady. 

STEWART  IVES, bansingburgh. 

JORDAN  W.  LOCKWOOD, Martindale. 

JOSEPH  D.  LOMAX, New  York. 

EDWARD  T.  MAIDMENT, Albany. 

FRANCISCO  A.  PAYROL, Villa  Clara,  Cuba. 

WILLIAM  H.  SCRANTON, Scnanton,  Pa. 

JOHN  H.  STRADER, Cincinnati,  0. 

EDMUND  L.  TYLER, .Norwich,  Conn. 

MARIN  F.  YZNAGA, Trinidad,  Cuba. 


c;  2  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

18^8-9. 

HENRY  W.  BILL, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

ALBION   M.  CHRISTIE, Savannah,  Ga. 

CHURCHILL  CRITTKNDEN, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

J.  CALDWELL  CROMBIK, Rochester. 

EDGAR  M.  CDLLEN,  A.  B., Brooklyn. 

HANFORD  DAY, Lansingburgh. 

E.  T.  EDDY, Troy. 

*0ns  FISHER, Trenton,  N.  J. 

LEONARD  GOODWIN, Morris,  Conn. 

HENRY  P.  GREGORY, Plattsburgh. 

WILLIAM  H.  GULICK, Blossburg,  Pa. 

FRANKLIN  S.  HALL, Fredericksburgh,  Va 

MARSHALL  HASTINGS, Benicia,  Cal. 

IRA  HARRIS,  Jr., Albany. 

WILLIAM  T.  HART, Union  Point,  Ga. 

WILLIAM  B.  HYDE, Benicia,  Cal. 

LLEWLYN  M.  KAUFMAN, Leesport,  Pa. 

JACOB  LIPPMAN, Savannah,  Ga. 

GEORGE  W.  MILLER, Johnsonville. 

JOSEPH  RIDGEWAY,  Jr., New  York. 

AUGUSTUS  SACKETT, Warren,  Conn. 

E.  SHELDON  SCRIBNER, Janesville,  Wis. 

ABRAHAM  J.  STORM, Stormville. 

CHARLES  F.  TURNBULL, Charleston,  S.  C. 

JAMES  D.  WARNER, Albany. 

WILLIAM  ZIMMERMANN, Buffalo. 

1859-6O. 

HENRY  M.  ADAMS, Ainherst,  Mass. 

JOHN  T.  CARROLL, Troy. 

*WALTER  0.  DUNBAR, Preble. 

WILLIAM  H.  GILLETT, Buffalo. 

NATHANIEL  IRISH, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

JAMES  G.  KNAP,  ....  Brownville. 

GEORGE  W.  LANE, Troy. 

LEONARD  MARCH, Bangor,  Me. 

REUBEN  W.  PETRIKIN, Lock  Haven,  Pa. 

FRANKLIN  C.  PRINDLE, Arlington,  Vt. 

LEWIS  Y.  SCHERMERHORN, Greenwich. 

THOMAS  VAN  VALKENBURGH, Lockport. 

1860-1. 

FRANCISCO  E.  ANIDO, Villa  Clara,  Cuba. 

THOMPSON  H.  DOUGHTY, New  York. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

GEORGE  B.  HICKMAN, West  Chester,  Pa. 

CHARLES  McC.  LORD,    Lyme,  Conn. 

EDWIN  C.  MONCURE Hinds  Co.,  Miss. 

J.  LAWRENCE  RATHBONE, Albany. 

MORTIMER  H.  ROBERTS, Glens  Falls. 

NICHOLAS  TANCO, Havana,  Cuba. 

SINCLAIR  G.  TURNBULL, Westchester. 

1861-2. 

MIGUEL  DE  AROSTEGUI, Puerto  Principe,  Cuba. 

GEORGE  H.  BIERCE, Circleville,  0. 

EDMUND  L.  COLE, Troy. 

THEODORE  W.  DAVIS, Poughkeepsie. 

ARTHUR  J.  DILLON, .  .St.  Louis. 

EDWARD  H.  HAMMOND, .Waltham,  Mass. 

ANDREW  S.  HUGHES, St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

WALTER  JAMES, New  York. 

FREEBORN  G.  JEWETT,  Jr., Poughkeepsie. 

ERVIN  B.  KENYON, Hoosick. 

FREDERICK  MASON, Taunton,  Mass. 

C.  STEWART  MAURICE, Sing  Sing. 

JOHN  C.  McMuRRAY, Lansingburgh. 

WILLIAM  J.  MYERS, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

MONTAGUE  P.  NEFF, Cincinnati,  0. 

CHRISTOPHER  L.  PAINTER, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  W.  PARRISH, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

EDWARD  R.  SATTERLEE,  Jr., New  York. 

CHARLES  H.  L.  SMITH, New  York. 

WILLIAM  WHEELWRIGHT, London,  Eng. 

GEORGE  T.  WICKS, Poughkeepsie. 

THOMAS  F.  WITHERBEE, Port  Henry. 

1862-3. 

FRANCIS  BABCOCK,  A.  B., New  York. 

CHARLES  W.  BEBEE, Ravenswood,  L.  I. 

JULIUS  N.  BEEMER, Newton,  N.  J. 

JAMES  BETTNER, Yonkers. 

CHARLES  E.  BURRALL, Rock  Island,  111. 

GEORGE  0.  CATLIN, Troy. 

ROBERT  S.  CHURCH, Brooklyn. 

CHARLES  DAVISON, New  York. 

BERTRAM  DELAFIELD, Staten  Island. 

JOHNSTON  L.  DE  PEYSTER, Tivoli. 

ASAHEL  EDGINGTON, Edgington,  111. 

S.  DE  PUY  FREER, Cortland. 


54  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

THOMAS  GORDON, New  York. 

EDWARD  M.  GREEN, ." Troy. 

CHARLES  R.  HICKS, Troy. 

SAMUEL  B.  JUDAH, Vincennes,  Ind. 

JOHN  F.  MARSH, Chicago,  111. 

JAMES  T.  MUNN, New  York. 

GEORGE  H.  MUNSON, Amsterdam. 

G.  FREDERICK  OLIVER Troy. 

ALEXANDER  S.  PALMER,  Jr., Stonington,  Conn. 

MELVIN  STEPHENS, Brooklyn. 

PLOWDON  STEVENS, Grafton. 

ROBERT  H.  THOMPSON, Troy. 

1863-4. 

WHITFIELD  B.  ABBOTT.   Fort  Lee,  N.  J. 

*EDWARD  L.  ARCHER, Brooklyn. 

SATTERLEE  ARNOLD, Sandlake. 

FREDERICK  A.  APELLES, West  Point. 

JUSTO  M.  DEL  CA£AL, Pinar  del  Rio,  Cuba. 

PABLO  B.  CANTERO, Trinidad,  Cuba. 

GIDEON  W.  CARMICHAEL, Sandlake. 

WILLIAM  G.  COCHRANE, New  York. 

WILLIAM  H.  COUGHLIN, Brooklyn. 

WALTER  E.  Cox, Bethlehem,  Pa. 

L.  HUNTLEY  CRAMER, Saratoga. 

B.  DALTON  DORR, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

AUGUSTUS  H.  EATON, Troy. 

FRANCIS  W.  ELSTON, Crawfordsville,  Ind. 

ALFRED  DE  F.  GALE, Troy. 

CHARLES  C.  GERARD, Newburgh. 

GUILLERMO  P.  GONZALEZ, Havana,  Cuba. 

NELSON  J.  HARRIS, Hamilton. 

ALFRED  W.  HIGGINS, Buffalo. 

CHARLES  P.  HOWELL, Goshen. 

H.  REEVE  INGALLS, Troy. 

AMASA  C.  JACKSON, New  York. 

J.  Ross  JACKSON, Paterson,  N.  J. 

GEORGE  M.  KING, Morristown,  N.  J. 

WILLIAM  KNIGHT, Yonkers. 

J.  HAMILTON  LANGWORTIIY, Stonington,  Conn. 

EDWARD  H.  MORRISON, Newark,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  W.  MUSGRAVE, Bay  Ridge. 

JULIEN  S.  OGDEN, New  York. 

ROBERT  E.   PACKER, Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 

JUAN  PEREZ, Consolation,  Cuba. 


KENSSELAEK  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  55 

JOSE  PONCE, Trinidad,  Cuba. 

GEORGE  V.  SHEPARD, Troy. 

CHARLES  L.  SNOW, Brooklyn. 

ORISON  B.  SMITH, Ravenswood. 

N.  HENRY  STARBCCK, Troy. 

*CHARLES  UNDERBILL, Sing  Sing. 

DAVID  II.  VALENTINE, Greenpoint. 

EUGENE  VANDERPOOL, Newark,  N.  J. 

*  WILLIAM  A.  VANDERVOORT, New  York. 

FRANK  WARREN, Louisville,  Ky. 

WILLIAM  WATERS,     .  .    .    Franklin. 

1864-5. 
*DIEGO  A.  DE  AGUERO, Puerto  Principe,  Cuba. 

GEORGE  P.  ATWILL, New  York. 

JOSEPH  N.  BALESTIER,  Jr., New  York. 

MILLS  W.  BARSE, Olean. 

FRANK  0.  BENNET, Bellport. 

FELIX  A.  CAMPUZANO, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

ALEXANDER  H.  CARYL,  Jr., . ' Groton,  Mass. 

J.  WAKEFIELD  CORTLAN, Baltimore,  Md. 

FREDERICK  S.  COZZENS, Yonkers. 

ANTONIO  E.  DESVERNINE, Havana,  Cuba. 

SAMUEL  L.  DOLSEN, Middletown. 

FRANKLIN  DWELLE, Rushville. 

FERNANDO  M.  FIGUEREDO, Bayamo,  Cuba. 

.TEOFILO  GIMBERNAT,  B.  S., New  York. 

DAVID  H.  GOULD, Bergen. 

J.  LESLIE  GREGG, Wilmington,  Del. 

ALBERT  W.  HUBBARD, Birmingham,  Conn. 

FREDERICK  H.  HUMPHREY, Auburn. 

AMBROSIO  D.  LAMADRIZ, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

PEDRO  MALIBRAN, Trinidad,  Cuba. 

H.  FREDERICK  MERWIN, Brooklyn. 

MAXIMO  E.  MORA,   Havana,  Cuba. 

Luis  M.  MOREJON, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

JOSE  R.  NADAL, Mayagues,  Porto  Rico. 

ANDREW  ONDERDONK, Sherwood,  N.  J. 

WORTH  OSGOOD, Troy. 

CARL  F.  PALFREY, Belfast,  Me. 

THOMAS  0.  B.  POTT, Pottsville,  Pa. 

*ROBERT  B.  READING, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CORNELIUS  ROOSEVELT, New  York. 

CLINTON  F.  STEPHENS, Auburn. 

WARNER  UNDERWOOD, Bowling  Green,  Ky. 


56  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

LEOPOLDO  VALUES, *» Havana,  Cuba. 

WESLEY  VANDERCOOK, Fremont,  0. 

CHARLES  K.  WEAD, Malone. 

1865-6. 

ROBERT  W.  ABORN,  Jr., .  .  .Orange,  N.  J. 

ROBERT  F.  ADAMS, New  York. 

RODOLFO  A  DAN, Puerto  Principe,  Cuba. 

MOSES  ATWOOD,    Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

PHINKAS  BARNES,  Jr., Portland,  Me. 

ANDREW  BARRY, Hillsboro,  0. 

LEWIS  L.  C.  BARTLETT,.  .  .    Providence,  R.  I. 

THOMAS  BRADFORD, New  Brighton,  Pa. 

SAMUEL  BRADY, Detroit,  Mich. 

EDMUND  CANFIELD, Dover,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  G.  COOPER, Mt.  Vernon,  0. 

ST.  CLAIR  DENNY, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  R.  FREEMAN, New  York. 

ALEXANDER  GRAY, Wilkesbarre,  Pa. 

ORRIN  S.  GRIDLEY, Buffalo. 

GEORGE  S.  GUNNISON, Brooklyn. 

EUGENE  J.  HALL, Brandon,  Vt. 

GEORGE  B.  HALL,     Detroit,  Mich. 

GIDEON  HAWLEY, Albany. 

WILLIAM  T.  HULL Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JOSIAH  W.  JENKINS, Vernon. 

JULIUS  J.  LARRINAGA, San  Juan,  P.  R. 

WILLIAM  N.  LEE, Detroit,  Mich. 

GARDNER  MACGREGOR, Mac  Gregor,  la. 

FREDERICO  J.  MARQUETTI, Havana,  Cuba. 

THOMAS  G.  McKELL, Chilicothe,  0. 

PABLO  MENDIVE, Havana,  Cuba. 

THOMAS  H.  MITCHELL Cincinnati,  0. 

RAIMUNDO  NAVARRO, Monterey,  Mex. 

JOSE  A.  NUNEZ, San  Juan,  P.  R. 

WILLIAM  G.  PARK, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

FRANK  PLACE, Cineinnatus. 

MATTHEW  PRESTON, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

MANUEL  E.  RIVAS, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

JAMES  ROCKWELL,  Jr  , Utica. 

ARTHUR  A.  ROGERS,    Utica. 

GEORGE  B.  ROGERS, Williamsburgh. 

JULIAN  A.  ROGERS, Utica. 

ANTONIO  SANCHEZ, Puerto  Principe,  Cuba. 

WILLIAM  SANDERSON,    Milwaukee,  Wis. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

CHARLES  W.  SCHANCK, New  York. 

JESSE  M.  SMITH, Detroit,  Mich. 

JOHN  W.  TROTT, Niagara  Falls. 

HIRAM  F.  WILLIS, Eldred,  Pa. 

TEOFILO  ZAMBRANO, Monterey,  Mex. 

1866-7. 

CAETANO  F.  D' ALMEIDA, Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

JOAO  J.  ALVES, Bahia,  Brazil. 

WILLIAM  D.  BABER, Pottsville,  Pa. 

WILLIS  H.  BALLANCE, Peoria,  111. 

CHARLES  J.  BATES, Cincinnati,  0. 

ROBERT  BELL, Rochester. 

HENRY  E.  BROWN,.  .  .      Warren,  Pa. 

S.  MATTHEWS  GARY, Houlton,  Me. 

T.  CHALMERS  CLARKSON, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

JAMES  P.  COLEMAN, Peinberton,  N.  J. 

CORNELIUS  M.  COMEGYS, Cincinnati,  0. 

EDWARD  B.  CRANE, Dorchester,  Mass. 

CLAY  CRAWFORD Cleveland,  0. 

HONORATO  F.  DE  CuETO, Cienfucgos,  Cuba. 

WILLIAM  H.  FITCH, New  Salem. 

JOHN  H.  G ARDINIER, Springfield. 

THOMAS  A.  HAMILTON, Athens,  Ga. 

ARCHIBALD  P.  LAW, Carbondale,  Pa. 

SHERMAN  H.  LEROY,. Staatsburg. 

JUDSON  MEDENHALL, ...  .Lewistown,  Pa. 

EDWARD  G.  MORTON, Newburgh. 

ALBERTO  J.  NADAL, Mayagiiez,  Porto  Rico. 

MERRITT  PECKHAM,  Jr., Utica. 

FRANK  W.  QUEREAU, Brooklyn. 

GEORGE  TAYLOR, Fremont,  0. 

CHARLES  H.  THATCHER, Hartford,  Conn. 

ALEXANDER  R.  THOMPSON, Newark,  N.  J. 

*FREDERICK  TINKER, Newark,  N.  J. 

GEORGE  W.  WORCESTER, Hollis,  N.  H. 

SABAS  J.  YTURBIDE, Mexico,  Mex. 

1867-8. 

SAMUEL  H.  ABY,  Jr., New  Orleans,  La. 

WILLIAM  P.  ALLENDORPH, Troy. 

WILLIAM  H.  BARRY, Cincinnati,  0. 

JOHN  W.  BEAMAN,    North  Hadley,  Mass. 

RICHARD  BLACKSTONE, Connellsville,  Pa. 

ISAAC  F.  BOSWORTH, Troy. 

H 


57 


58  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

ORIN  S.  BIXBY, % Milford. 

ROBERT  C.  P.  COGGESHALL, Xew  Bedford,  Mass. 

CHARLES  L.  Du  Bois, Washington,  D.  C. 

WRIGHT  GARDNER, Lansingburgh. 

FRANK  A.  LINDSAY, Troy. 

JAMES  D.  MASON, Providence,  R.  I. 

ROBERT  P.  PAULDING, Cold  Spring. 

JOSEPH  H.  PETERS, Amesbury,  Mass. 

WILLIAM  C.  ROBERTS, Baltimore,  Md. 

GUSTAVE   ROULLIER, New  York. 

HENRY  G.  SAXDKUHL,   Poughkeepsie. 

CHARLES  E.  SAYLES, Elmira. 

THOMAS  E.  VERMILYK,  Jr., Utica. 

HARRY  E.  WOODROW, Cincinnati,  0. 

WILLIAM  M.  WOOLLETT, Watervliet. 

CHARLES  D.  WRIGHT, Orwell,  Vt. 

1868-9. 

WILLIAM  A.  A  HAMS Cincinnati,  0. 

ANTONIO  A.  AGUIRRE Havana,  Cuba. 

JUAN  P.  ARRIOLA, Trinidad,  Cuba. 

JUAN  B.  BERRIOZABAL, Mexico,  Mex. 

ALEXANDER  C.  CHENOWETH,  A.  B.,  .......  .Carlisle,  Pa, 

GEORGE  B.  CHENOWETH,  A.  B., Carlisle,  Pa. 

PEDRO  A.  CARDONA, Manzanillo,  Cuba. 

LUCAS  A.  DE  CASTRO, Trinidad,  Cuba. 

STEWART  F.  CHISHOLM, Cleveland,  0. 

WILLIAM  H.  COFFIN, Washington,  D.  C. 

CLARENCE  L.  COOK Brooklyn. 

MELVILLE  CURTIS, West  Farnham,  C.  E. 

MARK  L.  FILLKV Lansingburgh. 

EMILIO  GIRO, Santiago,  Cuba. 

PEDRO  F.  HERNANDEZ, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

GEORGE  C.  JOHNSON, Brunswick. 

LEOPOLDO  DEL  JUNCO, Cienfuegos,  Cuba. 

FRANK  R.  KELLOGG, .Ashland,  0. 

JAMES  D.  KETCHUM, Washington,  D.  C. 

DOMINGO  L.  LAMADRIZ, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

GUSTAVUS  A.  LONGNECKER Mechanicsburgh. 

JOHN  K.  LONGNECKER, Mechanicsburgh. 

ARTHUR  MACARTHUR, Troy. 

*HENRY  R.  MASSEY, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

CHARLES  E.  PERKINS, Akron,  0. 

RAFAEL  J.  RUA, Matanzas,  Cuba. 

JOHN  W.  SINNICKSON, Salem,  N.  J. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  59 

MANNING  L.  SPOONER, Reading,  0. 

GEORGE  M.  THORNTON, Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

WALTER  F.  UPSON, Tallmadge,  0. 

HOWARD  S.  WINSLOW, ...  Cincinnati,  0. 

CHARLES  C.  WOODS, Washington,  Conn. 

1869-70. 

FRANK  P.  ABERCROMBIE. Roslyn,  L.  I. 

GEORGE  S.  ANDRUS, Brooklyn, 

FRANK  R.  BLACKINTON, North  Adams,  Mass. 

WILLIAM  B.  CARROLL, Troy. 

THOMAS  CHARLTON, Ironton,  0. 

CHAUNCET  C.  EDSON, New  York. 

FRANK  A.  FLETCHER, Indianapolis,  Ind. 

RAMON  GUILLOT, Havana,  Cuba, 

JAMES  P.  HARRISON, Fayette,  Miss. 

WILLIAM  HARRISON, Troy. 

CHARLES  A.  INGRAHAM,    ...  Cambridge. 

CHARLES  C.  KNEISLY,   Dayton,  0. 

CHARLES  M.  MARSH, Woodstock,  Vt. 

CHARLES  W.  McM ASTER,    Troy. 

WILLIAM  T.  MILLER, Buffalo. 

ALEXANDER  G.  PENDLETON, Washington,  D.  C. 

EMILIO  PRITCHARD, New  York. 

SOLON  B.  PRINDLE, Troy. 

THOMAS  J.  RODMAN, Rock  Island,  111. 

EDWARD  I.  ROGERS, New  Castle,  Del. 

ROSWELL  D.  SAWYER, Dover,  N.  H. 

CHARLES  H.  SCHIMPP, Allentown,  Pa. 

FRANCIS  SHIPPEN, Burlington,  N.  J. 

MICHAEL  M.  SHOEMAKER, Cincinnati,  0. 

EDGAR  G.  STONEY, Cedar  Rapids,  la. 

CHARLES  T.  SUTTON, Tunkhannock,  Pa. 

GEORGE  H.  TILDEN, New  Lebanon. 

JOSE  M.  TRIBINO, Guayaquil,  Ecuador. 

G.  NORMAN  WEAVER, Newport,  R.  I. 

EDWARD  B.  WELLING, North  Bennington,  Vt. 

EDWIN  L.  WESTERMANN, Sharon,  Pa. 

187O-1. 

SIDNEY  W.  BEAUCLERK, Louisville,  Ky. 

EDWARD  D.  BLACKWELL, Norristown,  Pa. 

GEORGE  B.  Cos, Oxford. 

HUGH  COOPER, Mt.  Vernon,  0. 

JOHN  A.  CORLISS, . . .  Waterford. 


60  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

FRANK  A.  DICKSON, ....*• Xe\v  Haven,  Conn. 

HKNRY  GOOLD, Albany. 

EDWARD  T.  GOULD Troy. 

SAMUEL-  HALL, : Evansvillc,  Ind. 

JOHN  T.  HALLIDAY,    .  .      Brooklyn. 

CHARLES  M.  HCBBARD, London,  0. 

S.  WARREN  INGALLS, North  Adams,  Mass. 

EUGENE  B.  JONES, Washington,  Mo. 

JOHN  R.  KALEY,  A.  B., Albany. 

HARRY  A.  LA  PAUGH, Utica. 

EUGENE  S.  LARKIN, Bridgeport,  Conn. 

JOSEPH  S.  LYBRAND, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JOSE  YGNACIO  MARTINEZ, New  York. 

WALTER  P.  McCuLLOCH, Greenbush. 

EDMUND  S.  MILLS,  Jr., Hastings-upon-Hudson. 

WILLIAM  R.  MYGATT, Oxford. 

WILLIAM  L.  OTIS, Cleveland,  0. 

G.  L.  M.  PINTO, Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil. 

P.  PORTER  POINIER, Newark,  N.  J. 

JOHN  E.  ROBINSON, Mt.  Clement,  Mich. 

WILLIAM  H.  SHIRLAND, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

FREDERICK  W.  SNOW, Ramapo. 

ETHELBERT  A.  STANLEY, Schuylerville. 

*FLOYD  S.  THAYER, Mendota,  111. 

LESLIE  J.  WATSON, Paterson,  N.  J. 

CHARLES  H.  WICKHAM, Tioga,  Pa. 

EDWARD  A.  WIKIDAL, Canton,  0. 

GEORGE  E.  WINSLOW, Bay  Ridge. 

THOMAS  S.  WOTKYNS, Troy. 

1871-2. 

ONWARD  BATES, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

LE  GRAND  L.  BENEDICT, New  York. 

RUDOLPHUS  R.  BOURLAND,  ... Peoria,  111. 

JULIUS  R.  BURNHAM, Glens  Falls. 

SAMUEL  K.  CASS, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

MICHAEL  E.  DEVLIN, West  Chester. 

HENRY  E.  DRAYTON, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

HARRY  A.  ELLIOTT, Des  Moines,  la. 

WARREN  EWEN,  Jr., Lima,  Peru. 

FRANKLIN  FIELD,  Jr., Troy. 

WILLIAM  H.  FLOYD,  Jr., St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

EDWARD  B.  GUTHRIE,  A.  B., Buffalo. 

THEODORE  W.  II.  HAUSCHILD, Spragueville,  la. 

CHARLES  H.  KING, Troy. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  61 

HENRY  MACTIER, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

HENRY  C.  PARSONS, Albany. 

OVERTON  PRICE, Hillsboro,  0. 

GREGORIO  C.  QUESADA, San  Jose,  C.  R. 

THORNTON  A.  RODEFER, Bellaire,  0. 

PATTERSON  H.  RORER, Lynchburg,  Va. 

JOHN  H.  SOLLENBERGER, Louisville,  0. 

WILLIAM  A.  TIBBAL, .Hartford,  Conn. 

WILLIAM  WHEATLEY,  Jr., New  York. 

FRANK  W.  WHITLOCK,  A.  B., Great  Barrington,  Mass. 

ALBERT  M.  WILSON, Brooklyn. 

1872-3. 

CLARK  S.  BAILY, Utica. 

JOSEPH  W.  BURDEN,  A.  B., Troy. 

RICHARD  E.  CHISM, Norristown,  Pa. 

ROBERT  C.  CLAPP, Fort  Hamilton. 

FRANK  M.  CLARKSON, Rochester. 

*EDWARD  H.  CONKLING, Bennington,  Vt. 

JAMES  F.  D'WoLF, Bristol,  R.  I. 

Louis  H.  EVANS, Chicago,  111. 

ISAAC  P.  FLAGLER, La  Grange. 

PAUL  A.  FLEURY, Upper  Falls,  Md. 

EDGAR  FREEDMAN, New  York. 

FRANCIS  C.  GAMBLE, Toronto,  C.  W. 

JOHN  K.  HALL, New  York. 

WILLARD  HARLEY, New  York. 

JOSE  J.  C.  MALCHER, .' Para,  Brazil. 

NESTOR  J.  NARVARTE Lima,  Peru. 

GOUVERNKUR  OGDKN, Troy. 

WILLIAM  C.  Ross, Troy. 

FREDERICK  F.  SCHEINER, Newark,  N.  J. 

DANIEL  L.  SLATAPER,    Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CHARLES  M.  SMITH, Hard  wick,  Mass. 

JOHN  B.  UNDERBILL, New  York. 

H.  GLYDE  WILKENS, Detroit,  Mich. 


62  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  INSTITUTE 
1874. 


CLASS    OF    1874. 

JAMES  N.  CALDWELL,  Jr.,  C.  E., Carthage,  0. 

GEORGK  W.  CARNRICK,  C.  E., Troy. 

LYMAN  E.  COOLEY,  C.  E., Canandaigua. 

WILLIAM  J.  FABIAN,  C.  E., Lake  Forest,  111. 

FRANK  L.  FORD,  C.  E., East  Cleveland,  0. 

ALEXANDER  P.  GEST,  C.  E., Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GEORGE  S.  GRIFFEN,  C.  E., Phoenixville,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  P.  MASON,  C.  E., New  York  City. 

HARRY  D.  PATTISON,  C.  E., Troy. 

WILLIAM  H.  POWLESS,  C.  E., Norwood,  N.  J. 

ENRIQUE  C.  ZEGARRA,  C.  E., Piura,  Peru. 

CLASS    OF     1875. 

SAMUEL  ALEXANDER,  ... Cohoes. 

R.  EDWARD  BALL,   Jamaica. 

ADOLFO  E.  BESOSA, Ponce,  Porto  Rico. 

HENRY  L.  BINSSE, New  York. 

JAMES  L.  BREESE, New  York. 

CHARLES  F.  CARBONELL, Havana,  Cuba. 

WALTER  E.  DAUCHY, Crescent. 

RICHARD  V.  W.  Du  Bois, Hudson. 

EDWARD  W.  ECKERT, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

JOHN  A.  FERRISS,  Jr., Troy. 

TUCKER  H.  FISHER, Columbia,  S.  C. 

WILLIAM  L.  Fox, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

JOHN  W.  GRAY, Harrisouburgh,  Va. 

WARREN  GREENE, Louisville,  Ky. 

JAMES  A.  HUTCHISON,  Jr Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CHARLES  T.  JUDSON, Lansingburgh. 

WILLIAM  G.  KAY, Chicago,  111. 

EDWARD  V.  Z.  LANE, New  York. 

HENRY  C.  LAY,  Jr., Easton,  Md. 

*CIIARLES  MCALESTER, Florence,  Ala. 

WILLIAM  B.  MAXWELL, Nassau,  Bahamas. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  63 

CHARLES  S.  PEASE, Tarrytown. 

FRANK  POND, Worcester,  Mass. 

HARRY  L.  RICHARDSON, Great  Barrington. 

PALMER  C.  RICKETTS, Princeton,  N.  J. 

FRANK  L.  ROWLAND, •. Mystic  River,  Conn. 

H.  DE  WITT  SMITH, Marshall,  Tex. 

ROBERT  S.  TAYLOR, Richmond,  Va. 

E.  RAY  THOMPSON, Troy. 

THOMAS  W.  TODD, Louisville,  Ky. 

JOSEPH  R.  UNDERWOOD, Nashville,  Tenn. 

JOHN  A.  L.  WADDELL, Cobourg,  Canada. 

J.  TRIPLER  WAIN  WRIGHT, .Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GEORGE  B.  WELLINGTON, Troy. 

GEORGE  E.  WINSLOW, Bay  Ridge. 

CLASS    OF     1876. 

W.  CLINTON  ADAMS, Washington,  D.  C. 

J.  FRANK  ALDRICH, Chicago,  111. 

WILLIAM  M.  ALLAIRE, New  York. 

JAMES  C.  ANDERSON, Newton,  N.  J. 

FREDERIC  S.  BAGLEY, Meadville,  Pa. 

ARTHUR  G.  BAKER, Decorah,  la. 

THOMAS  F.  BARRY,  A.  B., Rochester. 

TARLTON   BATES, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

L.  HARVIE  BLANTON, Frankfort,  Ky. 

EDWARD  A.  BURDETT, Troy. 

WILLIAM  H.  BYRAM,   Detroit,  Mich. 

EDWARD  C.  CARTER, Jacksonville,  111. 

JOSIAH  R.  T.  DAVIS, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CHARLES  A.  DRAPER, Sing  Sing. 

S.  WATERS  Fox Louisville,  Ky. 

ISAAC  W.  FRANK, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

HAROLD  A.  FREEMAN, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

EDWARD  G.  GEUDER, Cleveland,  0. 

N.  AUDINET  GIBERT, New  York. 

FRED  H.  GOODRICH, St.  Paul,  Minn. 

ARTURO  GUERRA San  Juan,  Port  Rico. 

WILLIAM  HENDERSON, Troy. 

JOSEPH  B.  HOEING, Lexington,  Ky. 

WILLIAM  W.  HUNTINGTON, .Brooklyn. 

LAY  HUNTLEY, Troy. 

JOHN  P.  KELLY, .  .  .Troy. 

JAMES  C.  KINGSLEY, Brooklyn. 

GEORGE  0.  KNAPP, Hartford,  Conn. 

WILLIAM  A.  LANGRIDGE, Muscatine,  la. 


6  4  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

SAMUEL  B.  Low, e Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

SOUICHIRO  MATSMOTO, Ogaki,  Japan. 

JOHN  MCLEAN, Rochester,  Minn. 

JOHN  W.  NIER, Detroit,  Mich. 

JOHN  B.  PARKINSON,   Boston,  Mass. 

HENRY  B.  PATTEN, Enfield,  Conn. 

GEORGE  F.  PEN  FIELD, New  Rochelle. 

ARTHUR  S.  POTTER, Adams 

DE  FOREST  PRUYNE, Belleville. 

E.  OGDEN  Ross, Troy. 

GEORGE  P.  SCRIVEN, Chicago,  111. 

HENRY  C.  SHAW, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

C.  SOOY  SMITH, Maywood,  111. 

WILLIS  G.  SMITH, St.  Paul,  Minn. 

EDWARD  A.  SPILSBURY, Baltimore,  Md. 

EUGENE  UNDERWOOD,  Jr., St.  Paul,  Minn. 

MORRIS  S.  VERNER, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

THOMAS  H.  WALBRIDGE, Toledo,  O. 

FREDERICK  H.  WIGGIN, New  York. 

GEORGE  T.  WOOD, Louisville,  Ky. 

JEU-SKE  YAMAMOTO, Bousheu,  Japan. 

GIRO  YAMAOKA, Tokio,  Japan. 

AARON  J.  ZABRISKIE, Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

CLASS    OF    1877. 

WALTER  F.  BALDWIN, Columbia,  S.  C. 

CLARENCE  M.  BARBER. Cleveland,  0. 

FRED  A.  BELKNAP, Erie,  Pa. 

ARTHUR  J.  BEST, Chatham  Village. 

CODDINGTON  BILLINGS,  Jr., Chicago,  111. 

HFNRY  BLAKELY, St.  Paul,  Minn. 

AUGUSTUS  O.  BOSTROM, Buffalo. 

GEORGE  W.  BOWMAN,  Jr Carlisle,  Pa. 

STEPHEN  L.  BRECKINRIDGE, Alton,  111. 

A.  SCOTT  BROWN, Eric,  Pa. 

STEPHEN  C.  BUSH, Waterford. 

JOSEPH  BUSHNELL,  Jr., Titusville,  Pa. 

LYMAN  L.  CAREY, Flanders,  N.  J. 

FRANK  CARRYL, Franklin,  N.  J. 

JOHN  CHISLETT, Indianapolis,  Ind. 

RICHARD  E.  CHISLETT Indianapolis,  Ind. 

DANIEL  W.  CHURCH Wegatchie. 

EDWARD  COLLEY, Washington,  D.  C. 

WALTER  F.  CROSBY,     New  York. 

CHESTER  B.  DAVIS, Troy. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

WILLIAM  P.  DENEGRE,  A.  B., New  Orleans,  La. 

Louis  H.  DICKKRMAN, Troy. 

ALBYN  P.  DIKE, Brooklyn. 

H.  BREWERTON  DUANE, Portland,  Me. 

HOWARD  N.  ELMER, Bridgeton,  N.  J. 

FRANK  M.  FABER, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

EMANUEL  S.  GANS, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

EDWARD  GIBSON, Yonkers. 

VOLENTINE  W.  GRANGER, Toledo,  0. 

HENRY  R.  GRIFFEN, Phocnixville,  Pa. 

CHARLES  G.  GRIFFITH, Brooklyn. 

JAMES  R.  HIRST, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

J.  HOLABIRD  HORTON, Chicago,  111. 

FRANK  E.  HOUSE, Houseville. 

CARROLL  HUTCHINS, Concord,  N.  H. 

GEORGE  E.  INGERSOLL, St.  Paul,  Minn. 

MERWIN  S.  H.  JACKSON, Toledo,  0. 

OSCAR  JARECKI, .Erie,  Pa. 

ELIAS  M.  JOHNSON Spuyten  Duyvil. 

GILBERT  H.  JOHNSON, Spuyten  Duyvil. 

THOMAS  T.  JOHNSTON, Washington,  D.  C. 

WILLIAM  KEMP,  Jr.,   Troy. 

EDWARD  J.  LANDOR, London,  Canada. 

ALBERTO  F.  LARRIEU, ...  .Matanzas,  Cuba, 

HORACE  W.  MANN, Blue  Rapids,  Kan. 

CHRISTIAN  I.  McKEE, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

CHARLES  S.  McMuLLAN, Cohoes. 

PAUL  S.  MERRIFIELD, New  York. 

GEORGE  T.  NELLES, Leaven  worth,  Kan. 

BENJAMIN  B.  NEWTON,  Jr., .  .   Brooklyn. 

WILLIAM  A.  NICHOLSON, Beekman. 

GEORGE  A.  NIXON, Covington,  Ky. 

JOHN  J.  O'HARA, ^ Albany. 

CHARLES  C.  ORMSBY, Waterford. 

EDWARD  A.  PATTISON,    Troy. 

WILLIAMS  PROUDFIT, Troy. 

ADOLPHUS  W.  RAHT, Cleveland,  Tenn. 

FREDERICK  S.  RAND, Troy. 

RICHARD  D.  RICKARD, Stamford,  Conn. 

GEORGE  W.  RIDGELY, Springfield,  111. 

WILLIAM  B.  RIDGELY, Springfield,  111. 

ALPHEUS  T.  SABIN, Oneonta, 

A.  T.  SCOFIELD, Warren,  Pa. 

ALFRED  P.  SCULL,  Jr., Phoenixville,  Pa. 

JUAN  SEMINARIO, Piura,  Peru. 

I 


66  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 

MINOT  M.  SEYMOUR, A- Greenville,  N.  J. 

JOHN  G.  SHACKLEY, West  Brookfiekl,  Mass. 

RICHARD  E.  SHAW, Charlottesville,  Va. 

HENRY  C.  SHOCK, Baltimore,  Md. 

BENJAMIN  V.  SIMPSON, Winona,  Minn. 

ROBERT  R.  SINGER, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

FRED  P.  SMITH, Waterford. 

C.  R.  HERMAN  SONNTAG,  Jr., Stapleton. 

A.  WILTON  STEIGER, Washington,  D.  C. 

WILLIAM"  H.  STORRS, Scranton,  Pa. 

CHARLES  F.  STOWELL, Rochester. 

LINTON  W.  STUBBS, Monroe,  La. 

HERMAN  STUTZER,  Jr., Stapleton. 

AUGUSTIN  TOYAR, Puno,  Peru. 

SEYMOUR  W.  TULLOCK, Washington,  D.  C. 

ALLEN  UNDERWOOD, New  York. 

WILLIAM  G.  WALBRIDGE, Saratoga  Springs.. 

ROBERT  S.  WALKER, Richmond,  Ky. 

JOSEPH  E.  WALTZ, Dayton,  0. 

GEORGE  H.  WARREN, Troy. 

WILLIAM  F.  WATERS, Cambridge,  Md. 

JAMES  C.  WHITON, Troy. 

CLIFTON  G.  WILLIAMS, Cincinnati,  O. 

FREDERICK  A.  YEAGER, Allegheny,  Pa. 

HORACE  G.  YOUNG, Honesdale,  Pa. 

SPECIAL    STUDENTS. 

JOHN  A.  BERKEY, St.  Paul,  Minn. 

CHARLES  P.  BONNETT, New  York. 

ALFRED  F.  BRAINERD, St.  Albans,  Vt. 

ROYAL  CHAPIN, Wickford,  R.  I. 

CLANCEY  R.  DEMPSETR, San  Francisco,  Cal. 

ROBERT  L.  HOLLIDAY, Bell's  Mills.  Pa. 

JOHN  W.  HUGHES, Sharon,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  D.  ISETT, Spruce  Creek,  Pa. 

W.  NOBLE  JONES, Savannah,  Ga. 

JOSEPH  R.  KINGSLAND, Franklin,  N.  J. 

FRANK  T.  L.  LANE, .      New  York. 

J.  MACNAUGHTON,  Jr.,  A.  B., Albany. 

JOSE  J.  DE  LOS  REYES, Lima,  Peru, 

FRANCIS  B.  SHEPHARD, Jersey ville,  111. 

CHARLES  M.  SMITH, Hardwick,  Mass. 

LYMAN  C.  WILDER, Hoosick  Falls. 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


67 


TO 


CATALOGUE  OF  GRADUATES. 


NAME.  CLASS. 

Aekley,  Calvin 1854 

Adams,  William  L 1862 

*Addison,  Alexander 1866 

Asjuiar,  A.  W.  Ferreira  do  . . .    1867 

Aikin,  William  A.  1 1872 

Albright,  Joseph  J 1868 

Alcover,  Federico  M.  .......    1871 

Alden,  John  F 1872 

Aldrich,  Truman  H 1869 

Allen,  Edward  A.  H 1850 

Allen,    James  T 1855 

Ambler,  John  G 1833 

*  Anthony,  Charles  H 1840 

Anzola,  Roberto 1869 

Appleton,  Francis  E 1863 

Appleton,  Thomas 1868 

Argollo,  Miguel  de  T 1871 

Arms,  Edward  W 1869 

Arms,  Stillman  E 1826 

*  Arnold,  Hiram 1828 

Arnold,  Lorenzo  M 1837 

Auchincloss,  William  S 1862 

*Avery,  Henry  J   1838 

Babcock,  Henry  N 1870 

Baermann,  Palmer  H 1867 

Bagley,  John  A 1853 

Bailey,  George  W.  R 1838 

*Baily,  Joseph  T 1870 

Bailey,  Thomas  W 1849 

Bailey,  William  C 1838 

Baker,  Arthur   L 1873 

Baker,  Henry   1837 

Baker,  William  L 1871 

Baldwin,  William  L 1861 

*Ball,  Jasper  N. . .'..    1848 

*Baltzell,  Thomas  K 1854 

Barcellos,  Jose  J.  A.  di- 1868 

Barker,  Stephen  W 1868 

Barnard,  John  F 1850 

Barrows,  John  M 1829 

Bates,  William  S 1871 

Beardsley,  Arthur 1867 

Bell,  James  E 1873 

Bement,  Robert  B.  C. .  .          .   1869 


NAME.  CLASS. 

Bement,  Rufus  B 1830 

*Benedict,  Abner 1826 

Bergen,  Van  Brunt 1863 

Bertolet,  Alfred  S 1871 

Birdsall,  James  W 1860 

Black,  Alexander  M   1869 

Blaisdell,  Anthony  H 1870 

Bloss,  Jabez  P 1846 

Blun,  Abraham 1873 

Boardman,  Arthur  H 1 870 

Boardman,  Henry  M 1871 

Bogue,   Virgil  G 1868 

Boiler,  Alfred  P 1861 

Boiler,  Frederick  J 1869 

Bontecou,  Reed  B 1842 

Bours,  Benjamin  W * 1839 

Bower,  Arthur  W 1871 

Boyd,  William  H 1832 

Boynton,   C.  Whitman 1856 

*Bradshaw,  James  W 1850 

Bradway,  Joseph  R 1841 

Brainerd,  George  B 1865 

Briggs,  Caleb 1835 

Briggs,  Roswell  E 1868 

Brinley,  Edward,  Jr 1839 

Brodt,  John  Henry. . 1844 

*Browne,  Percy  T 1863 

Bryant,  Cyrus 1829 

Bryant,  Fred  M 1873 

Buck,  B.  Franklin 1837 

Buck,  Leffert  L 1868 

*Buckhout,  Nathan   W 1 862 

^Buckingham,  Ebenezer  P.  . .    1861 

Buel,  Richard  H 1862 

Buel,  Samuel,  Jr 1865 

*Bullard,  Gardner 1828 

Burden,  Henry,  Jr 1 869 

Burgess,  William  N 1 869 

Burhans,  Frederic  0 1853 

Burnett,  Leicester 1856 

Burnham,  George,  Jr   1872 

Burr,  William  H 1872 

Burrall,  William  H 1851 

Buswell,  Eldridge  G 1841 


68 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Buxton.  Clifford 1865  « 

Caldwell.  James  N 1874 

Campbell,  Charles 1873 

Campbell,  James 1843 

Campbell,  Joseph  H 1868 

Cam  rick,  George  W 1874 

Can-,  Ezra  S 1838 

Casanova,  Jose  N 1859 

Casatt,  Alexander  J 1859 

Castro,  Alberto  de 1860 

Ceballos,  Gaspar  F.  de 1868 

*Chamberlaine,  Nicholas  H  . . .  1856 

*Chandler,  Jonathan 1827 

Chubb,  A.   Lamont 1848 

Church,  W.  Lee 1872 

Clark,  Joseph  E 1845 

Clarke,  John  M 1856 

*Clarke,  Joseph  B 1829 

Cleemann,  Thomas  M 1865 

Clement,  William  H 1835 

Clinch,  J.  Morton 1854 

*Cobb,  James  C 1831 

Coit,  James  C 1858 

Collin,  David 1842 

Collingwood,  Francis 1855 

Collins,  Charles 1840 

*Comstock,  J)aniel  0 1829 

Cook,  Charles  R 1837 

Cook,  George  H 1839 

Cook,  Robert  G 1847 

Cooley,  Lyman  E.    1874 

Cooper,  Theodore 1858 

*Cotes,  Elihu  W 1839 

*Cotterell,  Nathan 1841 

Cottman,  Joseph  B 1835 

Cox,  Abraham  B.,  Jr 1867 

Craft,  Charles  C 1866 

Crafts,  Walter 1859 

Crehore,  C.  Frederic 1848 

Crocker,  Edwin  B 1833 

*Cromwell,  James 1861 

Crosby,  Horace 1862 

*Cross,  Charles  E 1855 

Cross,  Charles   S 1838 

Cummings,  Charles  A 1849 

Curtis,  Henry 1854 

Curtis,  John  H., 1873 

Dabney,  Frederic  Y 1857 

Danforth,  Henry  W 1842 

*Danker,  Albert 1826 

Dauchy,  Edward  N 1840 

Davis,  Joseph  P 1856 

Davy,  John  J 1827 

*Decker,  Theodore  W 1830 

Dennis,  George  R 1839 

*Devol,  Edward 1831 


Dias,  Luiz  da  R.,  Jr 1860 

Dodge,  Richard  D 1860 

Doughty,  William  Howard.  .  .  1858 

*Drayton,  Henry  J .  .  1839 

Drayton,  James  S 1836 

Drew,  Francis  G 1827 

Drowne,  Charles 1847 

Duane,  James 1873 

Durham,  Anson 1840 

*Eaton,  Hezekiah  H 1826 

*Eaton,  Timothy  D  wight 1826 

*Eddy,  Jacob  F 1835 

*Edgerton,  Fay 1828 

Edwards,  Richard,  Jr., 1847 

Ells,  George  F 1856 

Ely,  Theodore  N 1866 

Emerson,  Rufus  H 1861 

Emery,  Albert  H 1868 

*Emmons,  Ebenezer 1 826 

Emory,  Thomas 1828 

Endicott,  Mordecai  T 1868 

Ensign,  Milton  W 1871 

*Escobar,  Jose 1867 

Escobar,  Roberto 1857 

Estabrook,  John  D 1856 

Fabian,  William  J 1 874 

Farnum,  Henry  H.,  Jr 1865 

Fay,  Francis  F 1868 

Felton,  Herbert  C 1866 

Fen  ton,  William 1861 

*Ferrao,  Jos6  Tell 1850 

*Field,  Charles  S 1838 

Fields,  Samuel  J 1867 

Fisher,   Clark 1858 

Fisher,  Joseph  S 1849 

Fitch,  Asa,  Jr 1827 

Follin,  Ormond  W 1859 

Ford,  Frank  L 1874 

Ford,  John  Q.  A 1866 

Forsyth,  Robert 1869 

Foster,  Albert  W 1871 

Fox,  Albert  R 1830 

Fox,  Joseph  G 18(>1 

Fox,  Peter  H 1864 

Frith,   Arthur  J 1873 

Frothingham,  James  H 1849 

Fuertes,  EsteVan  A 1861 

Gale,  E.  Thompson 1837 

*Gale,  George  A 1847 

Garcia,  Federico  G 1872 

*Garlinghouse,  Leman  B. .    ..  1837 

Garlinghouse,  Fred.  L 1871 

Geer,  Harvey  M 1872 

Gest,  Alexander  P 1874 

Goicouria,  Alberto  V.  de.  .  .  .  1871 

Gold,  Miner 1829 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


69 


Goldstein,  Max  L 1867 

Gonzalez,  Juan  Jr 1870 

Gould,  James  P 1863 

Gowing,  Burdett 1861 

Grant,  Edward  M 1860 

Greele,  Samuel  S 1846 

Greene,  Albert  S 1859 

Greene,  B.  Franklin 1842 

Greene,  Dascom 1853 

Greene,  David  M 1851 

Greene,  George  M 1859 

Griffen,  George  S .  1874 

Grimes,  Charles  L 1871 

Grinnell,  Frederic 1855 

Griswold,  John  W 1865 

Guerrero,  Carlos 1867 

Gurley,  Lewis  E 1845 

Gurley,  William 1839 

Haddock,  Arba  R. .    1862 

Hall,  Fitz  Edward 1842 

*Hall,  George  M 1 849 

Hall,  George  T 1868 

Hall,  James v 1832 

•Hall,  William 1846 

Harley,  Henry 1858 

*Harper,  Albert  M 1867 

Harris,  Charles  P 1873 

Harris,  Henrique 1860 

Harris,  Joel  B 1841 

Harris,  William  P 1866 

*Haskell,  Stephen  E 1845 

Haskin,  Abel  N 1840 

Haskin,  Alfred  B 1840 

Haskin,  Leonard  W 1841 

Haskin,  William  L 1861 

Hawley,  Fletcher  J 1837 

Hearne,  Frank  J 1867 

Heizmann,  Theodore  I 1859 

Henry,  William    1828 

Hernandez,  Jose" 1867 

Heyl,  Jacob  E 1870 

Hill,  Augustus  G 1831 

Hinckley,  Frank 1863 

Holmes,   Henry 1855 

Holton,  George  C 1860 

*  Hopkins,  T.  Orlando   1857 

Hopkins,  Theron  R 1834 

Horsford,  Eben  N.-. 1838 

Horton,  George  F 1827 

Horton,  James  S 1829 

*Houghton,   Douglass 1829 

Houghton,  J.  Franklin 1848 

House,  Samuel  R 1 834 

*Howard,  Jerome  B 1 838 

Hulbert,  Addison 1 826 

Humphreys,  John  G 1873 


Hunt,  George 1858 

Hunt,  George  M 1866 

Hurd,  Tyrus  W 1830 

Hyde,  Charles  B 1 84 1 

Hyde,  Douglass  W 1841 

Illsley,  Charles  E 1867 

Ingham,  William  A 1846 

Jackson,  Samuel  C 1827 

Jenny,  Joseph  H 184J 

Johnson,  George 1837 

Johnson,  Isaac  G 1848 

Keeney,  John  C 1827 

Kellogg,  Edward  R 1841 

Kellogg,  Nathan 1 841 

Kellogg,  Norman  B 1873 

Kellogg,  Warren  T 1861 

Kendall,  David 1838 

*Kingman,  Lysander  H 1829 

Kirby,  G.  Frederic 1857 

Kirtland,  Alfred  P 1871 

Kneass,  Strickland 1839 

Knap,  Joseph  M 1858 

Knap,  Thomas  L 1866 

Lacerda,  Augusto  de 1855 

La  Coste,  Louis 1841 

Lally,  James 1 861 

*Lapham,  William   G 1838 

Lawrance,  Benjamin  R 1868 

Lea,  George  H 1872 

Lent,  George  B 1838 

Lesley,  Alexander  M 1846 

Leverich,  Gabriel 1857 

*Lewis,  William 1840 

Lilienthal,  Benjamin  N 1866 

Lindsley,  Aaron  L 1842 

Locke,  Elmer  H 1848 

Lockling,  Levi  L 1837 

Long,  Thomas  J 1873 

*Loomis,  Charles  L 1851 

Loomis,  Horace 1 865 

Lowe,  Lewis  G 1848 

Lowrey,  Goodwin 1845 

Luaces,  Ernesto  L 1867 

Mabbett,  Henry  J 1 833 

McClellan,  Henry  G 1869 

McCaughin,  John 1 842 

Macdonald,  Charles 1857 

Macfarlane,  Graham 1872 

MacGregor,  George  C 1871 

McKee,  Aaron  G 1 836 

McKee,  Robert  G 1835 

McManus,  P.  C.  W.  T 1826 

McMillan,  Charles 1 860 

Mallory,  George  B 1867 

Mallory,  Marshall  H 1865 

Man,  Albon  P.,  Jr 1866 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Mann,  Elias  P 1872 

*Mann,  George  H 1870 

Mansfield,   M.   William 1871 

*Marks,  ,1.   Ilarrod 1871 

Marlett,  Seneca  H 1841 

Marling,  William 1872 

Marshall,  Thomas  F 1867 

Martin,  Charles  C 1856 

Martin,  William   H 1856 

Mason,  William  P 1874 

Masten,  Cornelius  S 1850 

Matas,   Ramon I860 

Mather,  Charles  R 1870 

May,  John  F, 1 846 

Megear,  Alter 1868 

Menocal,  Aniceto  G.  de   1862 

*Merian,  Henry  W 1858 

*Metealf,   Ji-remiah 1829 

Metcalf,   William 1858 

Miller,  Solomon  V.  R 1841 

Millet,  Albert  H 1867 

Mills,  Hiram  F 1856 

Mills,  William  H 1868 

*Moak,  Joseph  A 1854 

Moore,  Frank  L 1867 

Morris,  Thomas  O'Neil 1870 

Morse,  Henry  G 1871 

Morton,  Nathaniel 1850 

Moss,  Charles  H 1867 

Mullin,  Anthony  T.  E 1861 

Mullin,  Joseph,  Jr., 1869 

Murphy,  John  W 1847 

Mynderse,  Edward     1838 

Naranjo,  Francisco  R 1863 

Neal,  Robert  C 1870 

Neilson,  Robert 1861 

Nichols,  Edward 1871 

Nichols,  Othniel  F 1868 

Nickel,  George  D 1870 

Nickerson,  J.  G 1848 

Oakey,  James 1837 

*0atman,  Orlin 1827 

Olmstead,  Aaron  B 1837 

Olmstead,  Lemuel  G.  .  . . 1830 

Olyphant,  Hanvood  V 1868 

*0sborn,  George  K 1830 

Osborne,  Charles   M 1853 

*()strom,  John 1857 

Otto,  John  B 1871 

Packard,  Ralph  G 1864 

Painter,  Augustus  E.  W 1863 

Pardee,  Ario,  Jr 1858 

Pardee,  Calvin 1860 

Park,  Austin  F 1840 

Parrish,  Edward  Jr 1870 

Parsons,  Samuel  B 1840 


«,  Patterson,  Stephen  V.  R 1837 

Pattison,  Harry  D 1874 

Pearce,  Allen. '. 1838 

*Peck,  Hollam  L 1849 

Peck,  William  A 1869 

Peebles,  Robert  C 18<>9 

Pelaez,  Manuel  A 1873 

*Pelton,  William    S 1826 

Pemberton,  John,  Jr 1860 

Pentield,  James  A 1846 

*Percy,  James  R 1859 

Perkins,  Charles  P 1866 

Peterson,  B.  Walker 1873 

Pettibone,  C.  Vallette 1867 

*Philip,  John  H 1832 

*Philip,  John  Van  Ness 1839 

Pierce,  George  II 1858 

Pierpont,  John I  869 

Pike,  Samuel  J 1830 

Piraja,  Jose"  R.  da  S.,  Jr 1 865 

Platt,  Joseph  C.,  Jr 1866 

*Platt,  Merritt 1830 

Plympton,  George  W 1847 

Pdmeroy,  Henry 1841 

*Post,  James  H 1839 

Potter,  Clarkson  N 1844 

Potter,  George  C. 1839 

Potts,  Benjamin  C 1863 

Powell,  Ambrose  ^T 1 8*68 

Powell,  Jonathan  R 1846 

Powell,  William  J 1839 

Powless,  William   II 1874 

*Pratt,  Ira  R 1 842 

Pratt,  William  M 1857 

Prescott,  Richard, 1871 

*Prime,  Alanson  J 1829 

Putnam,  George 1838 

Quackenbush,  John  H 1856 

Rae,  Charles  W 1 866 

Randolph,  John  H 1870 

Raymond,  Thomas  C 1865 

Reed,  James 1873 

Reeves,  David 1872 

Reeves,  William  II 1873 

Reynolds,  James  D 1870 

*Rice,  Joseph  G 1 858 

Rice,  L.  Frederic 1858 

Rice,  Spencer  V 1871 

*Riddell,  John  L 1829 

Rider,  Jonathan  B 1844 

Rider,  Thomas  B 1845 

Ripley,  Thomas  C 1828 

Roberts,  George  B 1849 

Roberts,  Percival 1846 

*Robison,  John  A 1838 

Rockenstyne,  Porter 1849 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


Roebling,  Charles  G 1871 

Roebling,  Washington  A 1857 

Rogers,  Horace  N 1837 

Root,  Bennet  F 1826 

Ropes,  Charles  F 1871 

*Rossman,  Augustus 1847 

Roth  well,  Richard  P 1858 

Rowland,  Henry  A 1870 

Royce,  Harrison  A 1859 

Russell,  Nathaniel  E 1870 

Sage,  Russell,  2d 1859 

Sager,  Abraham 1 831 

Salisbury,  James  H 1846 

Saltar,  John,  Jr 1867 

Sanders,  William  S 1833 

Sanderson,  J.  Gardner 1858 

*Sanford,  Edward 1827 

Sariol,  Pompeyo 1867 

Saulles,  Arthur  B.  de.  ..    ....  1859 

Saylor,  Francis  H 1867 

Sehaeffer,  John  S. 1866 

Schermerhorn,  Richard 1871 

Schott,  C:  Ridgely 1868 

Scott,  Charles  H'. 1870 

Searles,  William  H 1860 

Sedley,  Henry 1848 

*Serrano,  Aurelio 1860 

Sherman,  William  B 1872 

Sherrill,  Rush 1830 

Silliman,  Justus  M.  .- 1870 

Simpson,  William  S 1860 

Skilton,  George  S 1868 

Skilton,  James  A 1845 

Skilton,  Julius  A 1849 

Slade,  Israel 1836 

Sloan,  Robert  1 1859 

*Small,  Thomas  B 1 843 

Smalley,  D.  S 1835 

Smith,  Charles  E 1860 

Smith,  David  C 1 833 

Smith,  Felix  R.  R 1860 

Smith,  Frank  G 1859 

Smith,  Milo  A 1867 

Smith,  T.  Guilford 1861 

Smith,  Thaddeus  S 1861 

Smith',  Theodore  S.,  Jr 1868 

Snyder,  Henry  R 1837 

Sosa,  Pedro  J 1873 

*Sothers,  Edward 1870 

Squires,  John 1 869 

Stanton,  Lodowick,  Jr 1841 

Starbuck,  George  H 1840 

Starr,  Arthur  B.. .  . !.  1869 

Stearns,  George  A 1849 

Stearns,  Irving  A 1868 

Stebbins,  Orrin 1839 


Steinacker,  Theodore 1873 

Stevenson,  Holland  N 1866 

*Stevenson,  P.  Eugene 1830 

Stilson,  William  B 1867 

Stodder,  George  T 1863 

Stone,  Cyrus  R 1867 

Stone,  Lowell  H 1869 

Storrs,  Abel 1831 

Stowell,  Ellery 1872 

Stratton,  Norman 1838 

Strawbridge,  William  C 1870 

Suffern,  Edward 1835 

Sutherland,  Mosher  A 1861 

Sutherland,  Samuel  W 1846 

Swift,  Alexander  J 1872 

Symington,  William  N 1861 

Taylor,  Gilbert  T 1844 

Thacher,  Edwin 1863 

Thomas,  Joseph 1830 

Thompson,  Albert  A 1838 

^Thompson,  Charles  B 1860 

Thompson,  James  G 1848 

Thompson,  John  C 1865 

Thompson,  William  A 1869 

Tibbits,  George 1841 

Tilghman,  James 1839 

Tompkins,  D.  Augustus 1873 

Trafton,  Gilman 1856 

Trevor,  Frank  N 1866 

*Trujillo,  Francisco 1857 

*Tuomey,  Michael 1835 

*Turaer,  Benjamin 1849 

Tweeddale,  William 1853 

Underwood,  John  C 1862 

Utley,  Charles  H 1869 

Van  "Bergen,  Robert  H 1841 

Van  Buren,  John  D.,  Jr 1860 

Van  Buren,  Robert 1864 

Van  Ness,  Sherman 1836 

Van  Rensselaer,  Alexander.  . .    1833 

Van  Rensselaer,  Peter 1839 

*Van  Schaiok,  Augustus  P.. ..   1839 

Van  Sinderen,  Adrian 1847 

Varona,  Ignacio  M.  de 1863 

Vaughan,  Frederic  W 1863 

Viscarrondo,  Lorenzo  J.  de. .    1859 

Voorhees,  Herman 1873 

Voorhees,  Theodore 1869 

*Vought,  William  G 1840 

Vroom,  Peter  D.,  Jr 1862 

Wade,  James,  Jr 1842 

Waite,  Christopher  C 1864 

Walbridge,  Russell  D 1871 

Wai  bridge,  T.  Chester 1873 

Walker,  William  W.  . . 1856 

Wallace,  Gurdon  B 1840 


72 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Wallace,  James  P 1837 

Walter.  Alfred 1872 

Ware,  R.  Willard 1850 

Warren,  Levi  H 1837 

Warren,  S.  Edward 1851 

Watkins,  Hezekiah 1857 

Watriss,  George  C 1853 

•  Westeott,  Amos 1835 

Weston,  Charles  L 1827 

*W hippie,  Charles 1837 

Whipple,  Stephen  T. . 1838 

White,  Alfred  T 1865 

White,  John  H 1840 

Whitney,  Drake. 1864 

'Whittelsey,  Philo  D 1834 

*  Wilde,  Nathan  R 1836 

Wiley,  William  H 1866 

Wilkinson,  Alfred 1849 

Wilkinson,  J.  Forman 1847 


t  *Wilkinson,  William 1830 

Williams,  Norman   A 1859 

Williams,  Samuel  W 1832 

Williams,  Worthington  B 1835 

Williamson,  Thomas  M    1871 

Wilson,  Henry  W. 1864 

Wilson,  John  A 1856 

Wilson,  Joseph  M 1858 

Winslow,  Charles  W 1858 

Wood,  De  Volson 1857 

Woodruff,  Joel  R 1847 

Woodward,  Francis  G 1839 

Woodworth,  Bleeker  B 1833 

Woodworth,  John,  Jr. 1837 

*Wotkyns,  Alfred  A 1847 

Yardley,  Edmund 1856 

Young,  Jonas  F 1872 

Zegarra,  Enrique  C 1 874 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


73 


TO    THIS 

CATALOGUE  OF  NON-GRADUATES. 


Abbott,  Charles  S 1847 

Abbott,  John  A.  E 1846 

Abbott,  Whitfield  B 1863 

Abercrombie,  Frank  P 1869 

Abert,  John  A 1854 

Aborn,  Robert  W.  Jr 1865 

Aby,  Samuel  H.  Jr 1867 

Adams,  Elmer  W 1832 

Adams,  Henry  G 1835 

Adams,  Henry  S 1856 

Adams,  Henry  M 1853 

Adams,  Robert  F 1865 

Adams,  William  A 1868 

Adan,  Rodolfo 1865 

Adriance,  Robert  T 1852 

Adsit,  Aruna  M 1 854 

*Aguero,  Diego  A.  do 1864 

Aguirre,  Antonio  A 1868 

Aiken,   William 1829 

Allen,  Nathaniel  F 1846 

Allen,  Nathaniel  T 1846 

Allendorph,  William  P.    ..    .1867 

Almeida,  Caetano  F.  d'   1866 

Alves,  Joao  J 1 866 

Ames,  Horatio  Jr 1849 

Amsden,  Frank  P 1856 

Anderson,  William  P 1856 

Andrews,  Henry 1836 

Andrus,  George  S 1869 

Anido,  Francisco  E    1860 

Annesley,  Richard  L 1855 

Appelles,  Frederick  A 1 863 

Arriola,  Juan  P 1868 

*  Archer,  Edward  L 1863 

*Arnold,  Oliver  A 1834 

Arnold,  Satterlee 1863 

Arostegui,  Miguel  de 1861 

Atwill,  George  P 1864 

Atwood,  Daniel 1851 

Atwood,  Moses 1865 

*Babcock,  Augustus  E 1850 

Babcock,  Francis 1862 

Babcock,  Stephen  E 1852 

Baber,  William   D..... 1866 

Bagley,  Augustus 1824 


Baily,  Clark  S 1872 

Baker,  John  E 1849 

Baker,  Royal  Wheeler 1836 

Balestier,  Joseph  N.  Jr 1864 

Ballance,  Willis  H 1866 

Ballard,  Charles  H 1851 

Pall,  James  H 1846 

Balton,  James  G 1850 

Baptiste,  James 1853 

Barker,  George  L 1846 

Barker,  Hill 1855 

Barnes,  Phineas  Jr 1865 

Barney,  Eliam  E 1832 

Barry,  Andrew 1865 

Barry,  William   H 1867 

Barse,  Mills  W 1864 

Bartlett,  Lewis  L.  C 1  865 

Bartlett,  Nathaniel  T 1861 

*Barton,  Edward  D 1 852 

Bates,  Charles  J 1866 

Bates,  Onward 1871 

*Beach,  John  P 1852 

Beals,  Orla 1832 

Beaman,  John  W 1867 

Bears,  William  H 1832 

Beauclerk,  Sidney  W 1870 

Bebee,  Charles  W 1862 

Beemer,  Julius  N 1862 

Bell,  George  C 1851 

Bell,  John  C 1848 

Bell,  Robert   1866 

Benedict,   Charles  0 1837 

Benedict,  Le  Grand  L 1871 

Benedict,  R.   M 1855 

Bennet,  Frank  0 1864 

Bentley,  Cyrus 1837 

Berriozabal,  Juan  B 1868 

Bettner,  James 1862 

Betts,  Nelson  B 1835 

Bierce,  George  H 1861 

Bigelow,  John  R 1824 

Bigelow,  Samuel  C 1838 

Bill.  Henry  W 1858 

Birge,  Henry  F 1853 

Birgin,  Hall  Jackson ...  1834 


74 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Bixby,  Orin  S 1867 

Blackington,  Frank  R 1869 

Blackstone,  Manning  C 1852 

Blackstone,  Richard 1867 

Blackwell,  Edward  D 1870 

Blatchford,  John  T 1836 

Bloss,  Richard  D 1843 

Bloss,  Richard  Jr 1848 

Booth,  James  C 1829 

Bonesteel,  William 1842 

Bosworth,  Isaac  F 1867 

Boudinot,  Theodore  F   1836 

Bourland,  Rudolphus  R 1871 

Boutelle,  George   W 1854 

Bradford,  Thomas 1865 

Bradley,  Franklin 1829' 

Bradsliaw,  Milton  S 1856 

Brady,  Samuel 1865 

Braem,  Frederick 1853 

Brainard,  Halsey 1845 

Brazelton,  James  A 1838 

Brinsmade,  H.  W 1844 

Brockway,  Josephus  C 1836 

Brockway,  Nathan 1824 

Brockway,  William  W 1832 

Brooks,  Theodore 1844 

Browning,  A.  E    1854 

Brown,  Edward  H 1851 

Brown,  Henry  E 1866 

Bryan,  Elijah  2d 1841 

Bryant,  John  Howard 1824 

Buck,  Reuben 1838 

Buel,  Clarence 1842 

Buel,  David  H 1855 

Buel,  Hampden 1849 

Buel,  John  G 1832 

Buel,  John  G 1849 

Buel,  Oliver  P 1852 

Buel,  Samuel 1824 

Buel,  Samuel  . 1832 

Bull,  John 1836 

Bull,  William  H 1844 

Burden,  I.  Townsend 1855 

Burden,  James  A 1849 

Burden,  Joseph  W 1872 

*Burden,  Peter  A.  .  .    1834 

Burden,  William  F 1845 

Burnham,  Julius  R 1871 

Burns,  Robert  T 1853 

Burt,  Aaron 1849 

Burt,  John  Otis 1851 

Burt,  Oliver  T 1843 

Burrage,  Charles  W 1849 

Burrall,  Charles  E 1862 

BUITUS,  Charles  D 1854 

Burtis,  Daniel  H 1832 


Burtis,  William  H 

Bush,  Calvin 

Buswell,  John  G 

Butler,  James  D 

Cades,  W.  H 

Cady,  Daniel  B 

Calkins,    Ripley  R 

Callender,  Charles  E    . 
Cammack.  Thomas  D 

Camp,  John,  Jr 

Camp,  Nathan  H 

Campbell,  Edward 

Campuzano,  Felix  A 

Canal,  Justo  M.  del 

Canfield,  Edmund 

Cannon,  LeGrand  B 

Cantero,  Pablo  B   .' 

Cardona,  Pedro  A ........ 

Carhart,  Daniel 

Carmichael,  Gideon  W .  .  .  , 

Carpenter,  James 

Carpenter,    John  B 

Carpenter,  W.  0 

Carroll,  John  T 

Carroll,    William  B 

Cary,  S.  Matthews 

Caryl,  Alexander  II..  Jr.  . 
Casanova,  Antonio  S      ... 

Cass,  Samuel  K 

Cassidy,  John 

Castro,  Lucas  A.  de 

Caswell,  Bloomfield  W 

Catlin,  George  0 

Chamberlain,  Augustus  P. 
Chamberlin,  James  K.  .  .  . 

Chapman,  Jerome  M 

Chapman,    William  H.  .  .  . 

Charlton,  Thomas 

Chase,  H.  M 

Chase,  March 

Chatfield,  H.  S 

Cheney,  Jehiel  W 

Chenoweth,  Alexander  C.. 
Chenoweth,  George  B.  .  .  . 

Chisholm,  Stewart  F 

Chism,  Richard 

Christie,  Albion  M 

Church,  Henry  S 

Church,    Roberts 

Clapp,  Robert  C 

Clark,  Matthew  Dorr 

Clark,  Theodore  E 

Clarkson,  Frank  M ..... 
Clarkson,  T.  Chalmers  .  .. 

Clary,  0.  W 

Clifford,  John  C 


1845 

1848 

1842 

1856 

1 834 

1824 

1 850 

1843 

1847 

1853 

1836 

1853 

1  864 

1863 

1865 

182!) 

1863 

1868 

1856 

1863' 

1853 

1856 

1848 

1859 

1869 

1866 

1864 

1857 

1871 

1829 

l^t>8 

1848 

1862 

1847 

1843 

1853 

1856 

.  1869 

.  1849 

1824 

.  1853 

.  1854 

.  1868 

.  !  cSi',8 

.  186S 

.  1872 

.  1858 

.  1 853 

.  isr.ii 

.  1872 

.  1837 

.  1832 

.  1872 

.  1866 

.  1849 

.  1851 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


75 


Glum,  Henry 1847 

Cobb,  Lewis  T 1824 

Cochrane,    William  G 1863 

Coe,  George  B 1870 

Coffin,  William  H. . .    ; 1868 

Coggeshall,  Robert  C.  P 1867 

Cogswell,  William  B 1849 

Cole,  Edmund  L   1861 

Cole,  Hiram 1849 

Cole,  William  H 1839 

Coleman,  Frederick  W 1851 

Coleman,  James  P 1866 

Collins,  Augustus 1824 

Comegys,  Cornelius  M 1866 

Com  stock,  Daniel  0 1824 

*Conkling,  Edward  H 1872 

Connity,  Hugh. . .    1839 

Constable,  William  B 1836 

Cook,  Charles  A 1834 

Cook,  John  H 1841 

Cook,  Matthias  M 1845 

Cook,  Clarence  L 1868 

Cooper,  Charles  G 1865 

Cooper,  Hugh ,  .  . .  1870 

Copeland,  Eugene  M 1856 

Corliss,  John  A 1870 

Cornell,   D.  E 1854 

Cornell,  James  T 1837 

Cornell,  William 1824 

Cornish,  W.  F 1855 

Cortlan,  J.  Wakefield 1864 

Coryell,  Elias  E 1852 

*Covell,  Silas' T 1849 

Coughlin,    William  H 1863 

Cox,  Walter  E 1863 

Cozzens,  Frederick  S 1864 

Cramer,  Eliphalet 1829 

Cramer,  George  H, 1832 

Cramer,  James  L 1838 

Cramer,  John  C 1838" 

Cramer,  L.  Huntley 1863 

Crandall,  Martin 1829 

Crane,    Benjamin  E 1854 

Crane,  Edward  B 1866 

Crane,  Heber 1852 

Crary,    John  S 1844 

Crawford,  Clay 1^66 

Crittenden,  Churchill 1858 

Crombie,  J.  Caldwell 1858 

Crosby,  Wilson 1855 

Cross,  Andrew  B 1836 

Cross,  Luther 1824 

Cullen,    Edgar  M 1858 

Curtis,  Abijah  C 1850 

Curtis,  Albert  W 1837 

Curtis,  Charles  D 1852 


Curtis,  Frederick  R 1853 

Curtis,  Melville 1868 

Cueto,  Honorato  F.  de 1866 

Davis,  Charlton  H 1843 

Davis,  Theodore  W 1861 

Davis,  Thomas 1 849 

Davis,  Samuel    D 1850 

Davison,  Charles   1862 

Dauchy,  Burr. 1852 

Dauchy,  Charles  H 1857 

Dauchy,  Harvey  B 1848 

Dauchy,  Nathan 1848 

Dater,  Jacob  Henry  ...    ....  1835 

Dawson,  George  S. . . 1855 

Day,  Hanford 1858 

Delafield,  Bertram 1862 

Denny,  St.  Clair 1865 

Denton,  Preston 1837 

De  Peyster,  Johnston  L     ....  1862 

Desvernine,  Antonio  E 1864 

Devlin,  Michael  B 1871 

Dickerman,  Mark  S 1837 

Dickson,  Frank  A 1870 

Dillon,  Arthur  J 1861 

Disbrow,  Charles  S 1829 

Diver,    Jacob  A 1849 

Douglass,  Andrew  A 1836 

Douglass,  George  E 1842 

*Doughty,  Richard  H 1855 

Dough tyj  Thompson  H 1860 

Dolsen,    Samuel  L 1864 

Dorlon,    John  W 1844 

Dorr,  B.  Dalton 1863 

Dorsey,  Dan  B 1864 

Downing,  Joseph  K 1843 

Douw,  John  D.  P 1 854 

Drake,  Garret 1834 

Drake,  Isaac 1838 

Drake,  Rutger  L 1837 

Draper,  Francis  C 1853 

Dray  ton,  Henry  E 1 87 1 

Drowne,  William  L 1849 

Du  Bois,  Charles  L 1867 

*Dunbar,  Walter  G   1859 

Dungan,    James  B 1829 

Durand,  Fred  F 1856 

Durkee,  Richard  P.  H 1855 

Duval,  Charles 1829 

Dwelle,  Franklin 1864 

D' Wolf,  James  F 1872 

Eaton,  Amos  B 1824 

Eaton,  Augustus  H 1863 

Eaton,  D.  Cady, 1847 

Eaton,  Cuvier 1834 

Eaton,  Daniel  Cady 1852 

Eaton,  Edward  0 1832 


76 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


*Eaton,  George  H 1843 

Eaton,  J.  Humboldt 1838 

Eaton,  Johnson  H 1842 

*Eaton  Thomas, 1855 

Eaton,  Thomas  H 1824 

Eaton,  William  B 1829 

Eddy,  E.  T 1858 

Eddy,  James  A 1850 

Eddy,  Newton 1852 

Eddy,  Titus  C 1850 

Edgington,  Asahel 1862 

Edson,  Chauncey  C 1869 

Edson,  John 1848 

Egerton,  Lebbeus,  Jr 1853 

Egleston,  Zina  Pitcher 1834 

Eigenbrodt,  David  S   1832 

Elliott,    Harry  A   1871 

Elston,  Francis  W 1863 

Ely,  Jonathan 1824 

Emery,  Cyrus  F 1856 

Evans,  Louis  H 1872 

Evans,  Walton  W 1835 

Everest,  George  H 1847 

Ewen,  Warren,  Jr 1871 

Fellows,  Charles  H 1829 

Fellows,  Louis  A 1844 

Fellows,   Peter 1834 

Field,  Francis  K 1842 

Field,  Franklin  Jr     1871 

Figueredo,  Fernando  M  .  . .    .  1864 

Filley,  Mark  L 1868 

Filley,  Oliver  B 1854 

Fisher,  A.  W 1832 

Fisher,  Charles  D 1857 

Fisher,  Charles  H 1851 

Fisher,  G.  Merriam 1841 

Fisher,  Isaac  D 1851 

Fisher,  Nathaniel  Jr 1851 

*Fisher,  Otis 1858 

Fitch,  William  H 1866 

Flagler,  Isaac  P 1872 

Fletcher,  Frank  A 1869 

Fleury,  Paul  A 1872 

Floyd,  Charles  R 1856 

Floyd,  William  H    Jr 1871 

Ford,  Ira 1839 

Foster,  Asa  E 1829 

Foster,  Bela 1824 

Fouquet,  J.  D 1849 

Fouquet,  John  M 1849 

Franchot,  Richard  H 1838 

Franklin,  Benjamin 1853 

Freedman,  Edgar 1872 

Freeland,  William  H 1829 

Freeman,  William  R 1865 

Freer,  S.  De  Puy 1862 


'  Freiot,  Charles 1832 

French,  Edmund  B 1851 

French,  John  F 1829 

Frisbie,  Byron  F 1853 

Gale,  Alfred  De  F 1863 

Gamble,  Francis  C 1872 

Gardinier,  John  H 1866 

Gardner,  Charles 1829 

Gardner,  Wright 1 867 

Garnsey,  Nathan  D 1834 

Gary,  Joseph  Jr 1832 

Gary,  Joseph  S 1 834 

Gates,  George  N 1838 

Gatzmer,  H.  S 1853 

Gay,  Lusher 1844 

Geer,  Erastus 1841 

Gerard,  Charles  C 1863 

Gerrish,  Henry  P 1854 

Gibson,   Danvin 1824 

Giddings,  G.  R 1854 

Gilbert,  William 1855 

Gillett,  William  H 1859 

Gimbernat,  Teofilo 1 864 

Giro,  Emilio 1868 

Gonzalez,  Guillermo  P   1863 

Goold,  Henry   1870 

Goodnough,  F.  A 1848 

Goodrich,  Charles  R 1845 

Goodwin,  John  A 1846 

Goodwin,  Leonard 1858 

Gordon,  Thomas 1862 

Gould,  David  H 1 864 

Gould,  Edward  T 1870 

Grant,  Bryan 1851 

Grant,  Job  P 1851 

Gray,  Alexander 1865 

*Gray,  Charles  0 1855 

Gray,  James  A   1 845 

Gregg,  J.  Leslie 1864 

Gregory,  Henry  P 1858 

Green,  Edward  M 1862 

Greene,  Henry  F 1856 

Greer,  Joseph 1 853 

Gridley,  Edwin  R 1854 

Gridley,  Orrin  S 1865 

Guernsey,  William  B 1847 

Guest,  William  R 1835 

Guillot,  Ramon 1839 

Gulick,  William  H 1858 

Gunnison,  George  S 1865 

Guthrie,  Edward  B 1871 

Haight,  William  S 1834 

Hale,  Richard  H 1824 

Hall,  Eugene  J 1865 

Hall,  Franklin  S 1858 

Hall,  George  B 1865 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


77 


Hall,  George  C 1844 

Hall,  John  K 1872 

Hall,  Samuel 1870 

Hall,  Sewell  W 1840 

Halliday,  John  T 1870 

Halsey/John  R 1857 

Hamilton,  Thomas  A- 1866 

Hammond,  A.  Park 1852 

Hammond,  Edward  H 1861 

Hammond,  John 1846 

Haniford,  William  G 1824 

*Hanks,  Arthur 1834 

Hanks,  Oscar 1824 

Harleston,  Edward 1853 

Barley,  Willard 1872 

Harris,  Charles 1854 

Harris,  Jr.,  Ira 1858 

Harris,  Nelson  J 1 863 

Harrison,  James   P 1869 

Harrison,  William 1869 

Hart,  William  T 1858 

Haskins,  Joseph  Abel 1834 

Hastings,  Marshall 1858 

Hatch,  Henry  S 1844 

Hauschild,  Theodore  W.  H  .  .  .  1871 

Hawley,  Gideon 1865 

Hawley,  James  M 1857 

Hayes,"  DeWitt  C 1854 

Haynes,  John  H 1829 

Hay  ward,  Henry  F 1852 

*Heartt,  Charles  S 1838 

Heartt,  Jonas  S 1844 

Heermans,  Thomas  B 1846 

Heimstreet,  J.  W 1854 

Heller,  Henry  M 1855 

Henry,  T.  Charlton 1846 

Henry,  William  W 1853 

Hernandez,  Pedro  F 1868 

Hcrthel,  George  P 1857 

Hewitt,  Henry  W 1835 

Hickes,  J.  L 1853 

Hickman,  George  B 1860 

Hicks,  Charles  R 1862 

Hicks,  Charles  S 1850 

Hicks,  J.  Lawrence 1855 

Hidalgo,  Emelio  M 1855 

Higgins,  Alfred  W 1863 

Higman,  Baron 1855 

Hill,  George  P.  B 1853 

Hillhouse,  William 1836 

Hitchcock,  William  A 1824 

Hoag,  J.  P 1848 

Hodgman,  Romanus 1852 

Hodgeman,    Lansing 1834 

Hodson,  Eugene 1849 

Hollister,  Calvin 1829 


Hollister,  Thompson 1832 

Hollister,  William 1832 

Holton,  Albert 1844 

Holton,  Charles  M 1846 

Hooper,  John 1836 

Home,  E.  Pearce 1 854 

*Borsefall,  Edgar 1857 

Howard,  Ezra  E 1 840 

Howard,  Joseph  H 1 849 

Howell,  Charles  P 1863 

Hubbard,  Albert  W 1 864 

Hubbard,  Charles  M 1 870 

Hubbard,  William  P 185<> 

Hubbell,  Edward 1844 

Hubbell,  Theodore 1 855 

Huger,  Eustis 1853 

Hughes,  Andrew  S 1861 

Hull,  William  T 1865 

Humphrey,  Frederick  H 1864 

Hunt,  George  B 1851 

Huntington,  Calvin 1832 

Hutchinson,  Amos  S 1829 

Button,  M.  E 1849 

Hurley,  Richard 1854 

Byde,  William  B 1858 

Ingalls,  B.  Reeve 1863 

Ingalls,  S.  Warren 1870 

Ingraham,  Charles  A 1869 

Irish,  Nathaniel 1859 

Irish,  Samuel  L 1849 

Irvine,  Francis 1848 

Irvine,  James 1848 

Ives,  Chauncy  E 1856 

Ives,  Stewart 1857 

Jacobs,  Ferris 1824 

Jacobs,    Ferris 1 832 

Jackson,  Amasa  C.  . 1863 

Jackson,  J.  Ross 1863 

James,  Walter 1861 

•Jarvis,  William  D 1853 

Jenkins,  David  T 1853 

Jenkins,  Josiah  W 1865 

Jewett,  Freeborn  G.  Jr 1861 

Johnson,  Benjamin  F 1854 

Johnson,  Edward    R 1848 

Johnson,  George  C 1868 

Johnson,  George  P .  .  1854 

*  Johnston,  Thomas  L 1856 

Jones,  Charles  Benry 1854 

Jones,  Eugene  B. 1870 

Jones,  Bay  ward 1853 

Jiidah,  Samuel  B 1862 

*Judah,  Theodore  D 1837 

Junco,  Leopoldo  del 1868 

Kaley,  John  R 1870 

Kaufman,  Llewlyn   M 1858 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Keeler,  Nathan  N 1856 

Keim,  Beverly  R 1854 


Kellogg,  Frank  R   .  . 


1868 


Kellogg,  William  P 1853 

Ketchum,  James  D 1868 

Kenyon,  Ervin  B 1861 

Kidder,  John  F 1846 

Kimball,  William  S 1854 

Kimberly,  George  E 1851 

King,  Charles  H 1871 

King,  George  M 1863 

*King,  William  A 1824 

Kingsbury,  Benton   L 1854 

Kinsey,  Carolan  J 1853 

Kinzie,  John  C.  Jr 1854 

Knap,  James  G 1859 

Kneisly,  Charles  C 1869 

Knickerbocker,  J.  H 1849 

Knight,  William 1863 

Lacerda,  Antonio  F.  de 1853 

Ladieu,  Peter  A 1838 

Laisdell,  Robert  C 1853 

Lamadriz,  Ambrosio  D 1864 

Lamadriz,  Domingo  L 1868 

Lane,  Augustus 1849 

Lane,    Derrick 1842 

Lane,  George  T 1850 

Lane,  George  W 1859 

Lane,  Henry 1832 

Landon,  Gardner  Jr 1846 

Landon,  Henry  G 1844 

Landon,  John  M 1849 

Langworthy,  J.  Hamilton.  .  .  .  1863 

Lansing,  Gerritt  G 1838 

Lansing,  William 1832 

Larkin,  Eugene  S 1870 

Larkin,  James  R 1849 

Larrinaga,  Julius  J 1865 

Lathrop,  Hollister 1829 

La  Paugh,  Harry  A 1870 

Law,  Archibald  P 1866 

Law,  Isaac 1836 

Lawvere,  A.  Mayor 1855 

*Lay,  Robert.  .'. 1839 

Leavenworth,   Rev.  Mr   . .    . .  1829 

Leavitt,  John  H 1851 

Lee,  Albert  L 1849 

Lee,  William  A 1840 

Lee,  William  N 1865 

LeRoy,  Sherman  H 1866 

Lester,  Henry 1849 

Lindley,  Charles  Henry 1834 

Lindsay,  Frank   A.  .  .". 1867 

Lippman,  Jacob 1858 

Livingston,  Francis  R 1832 

Livingston,  Joseph  B 1853 


Lloyd,  Horatio 1850 

Lockwood,  Charles   Nichols..  1834 

Lockwood,  Jordan  W 1857 

Lohnes,  Henry 1852 

Longnecker,  Gustavus   A.  ...  1868 

Longnecker,  John  K 1868 

Loomis,  Abiel  T 1849 

Lomax,  Joseph  D 1857 

Lord,  Charles   McC 1860 

Lord,  N.  B 1855 

Lord,  T.  Ellery 1856 

Low,  Alexander  C 1850 

Luce,  Robert  T 1 854 

Lybrand,  Joseph   S 1870 

Lyle,  George  W 1853 

MacArthur,  Arthur 1868 

McChesney,   Hiram 1845 

McGonihe,  Isaac  M 1843 

McConihe,  Samuel   1851 

McConihe,  William   W 1844 

McCulloch,  Walter  P 1870 

MacDonald,   James 1855 

MacGregor,  Gardner 1865 

Macguire,  Charles 1853 

McKean,  Frederick  G -1854 

McKell,  Thomas  G 1865 

McManus,  Robert 1824 

McMaster,  Charles  W 1869 

McMurray,  A.  W 1849 

McMurray,  John  C 1861 

Macombe'r,    G.  Elliott 1853 

Macpherson,  John  J 1853 

Mactier,  Henry 1871 

Maidment,  Edward  T 1857 

Malcher,  Jose  J.  C 1872 

Malibran,  Pedro 1864 

Mallary,  J.  R 1850 

Mallar'y,  John  S 1845 

Mallory,  Charles   R 1837 

Mann,  Charles  W. .  .  , 1853 

Marble,  Benjamin 1847 

Marble,  Daniel 1846 

March,  Leonard 1859 

Marsh,  Charles  M 1869 

Marsh,  John  F 1862 

Martinez,  Jose  Ygnacio 1870 

Marquetti,  Frederico  J 1865 

Mason,  Frederick 1861 

*Mason,   George  A 1852 

Mason,  James  D 1867 

*Massey,  Henry  R 1868 

Masten,  Nathan  K 1837 

Maurice,  C.  Stewart, 1861 

Maxon,  John  H 1851 

Maxon,  R.  L 1854 

Maxwell,  Horace 1850 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


79 


May,  James  S 1832 

May,  John  E 1824 

Mendenhall,  Judson    1866 

Mendive,   Pablo 1865 

Mercur,  Frederick 1854 

Merriam,  W.   Henry 1847 

Merritt,  Jonathan  H 1836 

Merwin,  H.  Frederick 1864 

Meyer,  Robert  E 1850 

Meylert,  G.  W 1852 

Middleton,  Francis  K 1852 

Middleton,  H.  A.  Jr 1849 

Miller,  Charles 1835 

Miller,  George  W 1858 

Miller,  John  N 1848 

Miller,  William  T 1869 

Mills,  Edmund  S.  Jr 1870 

Mills,  Samuel  J 1836 

Mills,  William 1838 

Mitchell,  Thomas  H 1865 

Moffatt,  John  J 1847 

Moncure,  Edwin  C 1860 

Moody,  George  L 1850 

Moon',  George  H 1851 

Moore,  Philander 1829 

Mora,  Maximo  E 1864 

Morejon,  Luis   M 1864 

Morrison,   Edward    H    1863 

Morse,  Franklin  A 1852 

Morton,  Edward  G 1866 

Mott,  John  M.  Jr 1852 

Munn,  James  T 1862 

Munson,  George  H 1862 

Murdock,  George  A 1848 

Murney,  Edmund  H 1853 

Musgrave,  Charles  W 1863 

Myers,  John  K 1832 

Myers,  Matthew  P 1852 

Myers,  William  G 1856 

Myers,  William  J 1861 

Mygatt,  William  R 1870 

Nadal,  Alberto  J 1866 

Nadal,  Jose  R 1864 

Narvarte,  Nestor  J 1872 

Navarro,  Raimundo 1865 

Neal,  James 1847 

Neff,  Montague  P 1861 

Nettleton,  George  H 1849 

Newton,  J.  Caldwell    1854 

Newton,  Silas  C 1836 

Nicholson,  J.  Henry 1850 

Nickerson,   Reuben 1851 

Noble,  George  M 1829 

Norton,  William  H 1832 

Noyes,  Richard  B 1849 

Nunez,  Jose  A 1865 


Oakey,  James 1837 

Ogden,  Gouverneur 1872 

Ogden,  Julien  S 1863 

Olcott,  Dudley 1856 

Oliver,  G.  Frederick 1862 

Onderdouk,   Andrew 1864 

Openheimer,  William  P 1852 

Osborn,  John  W 1847 

Osgood,   Worth 1864 

Otis,  William  L 1870 

Packer,   Robert  E 1863 

Paddock,  George 1854 

Paige,  Austin  B 1853 

Painter,  Christopher  L 1861 

Painter,  Jacob 1836 

Palfrey,  Carl  F 1864 

Palmer,  Alexander  S.  Jr 1862 

Palmer,  Samuel  L 1845 

Park,  Sidney  W 1842 

Park,  William  G 1865 

Parker,  Francis  H    1 855 

Parrish,  William  W 1861 

Parsons,  David  B .  1847 

Parsons,  Henry  C 1 871 

Parsons,  Hial  Kenyon 1839 

Patton,  James  G 1850 

Paulding,  Robert  P 1867 

Payrol,  Francisco  A 1857 

Peacock,   George 1845 

Peckham,  Merritt  Jr 1866 

Peltou,  M 1852 

Pendleton,  Alexander  G   .  .  .     1869 

Perez,   Juan 1 863 

Perkins.  Charles  E 1868 

Perry,  James  H   1 856 

Peter,  Robert  Jr 1824 

Peters,  Joseph  H 1867 

Petrikin,  Reuben  W 1859 

Philip,  George 1824 

Philip,  John  H 1824 

Philip,  Peter  George 1834 

Pickett,  James 1829 

Pierce,  Franklin 1829 

*Pierce,  T.  H 1850 

Pinto,  G.  L.  M 1870 

*Pitcher,  Augustus 1824 

Place,  Frank 1865 

Place,  James  H 1853 

Platt,   Myron 1851 

Poinier,  P.  Porter 1870 

Ponce,   Jose 1863 

Pope,  Charles  C 1 853 

Pott,  Thomas  0.  B 1864 

Powell,  F.  W 1829 

Powell,  William  D 1853 

Powers,  Albert  E 1832 


8o 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Powers,  Longworth 1853 

Powers,  Nathaniel  B 1842 

Powers,   William 1845 

Pratt,  Thomas  W 1824 

Pratt,  William  H 1840 

*Prescott,  Charles  L 1832 

Preston,    Matthew 1865 


Price,  David 

Price,  Overton 

Prindle,  Franklin  C 

Prindle,  Solon  B 

Prioleau,  Charles  M.  B. 

Pritchard,  Emilio 

Prudhomme,  M.  S 

Pugsley,  V.  A 

Putnam,  A.  E 

Quereau,  Frank  W. . 


1835 
1871 
1859 
1869 
1853 
1869 
1856 
1855 
1849 
1866 


Quesada,  Gregorio  C 1871 

Quintana,  Manuel 1853 

Radenhurst,  William 1853 

Randall,  Jedediah 1845 

Randall,  Robert  M ]  845 

Rathbone,  J.  Lawrence 1860 

Read,  William  L 1832 

*Reading,  Robert  B 1864 

Redington,  Robert  F.  E 1856 

Redmund,  Henry 1855 

Reilay,  John  P. ". 1841 

Rice/Peter  H 1836 

Richards,  Charles  H 1852 

Richards,  Benjamin 1824 

Richards,  Joseph 1824 

Ridgway,  Joseph,  Jr 1858 

Rivas,  Manuel  E 1865 

Roberts,  Mortimer  H 1860 

Roberts,  William  C 1867 

Robertson,  Charles 1829 

*Robertson,  William  A 1853 

Robinson,  John  E 1870 

Rockwell,  James,  Jr 1865 

Rodefer,  Thornton  A 1871 

Rodman,  Thomas  J 1869 

Roff,  John 1853 

Rogers,  Arthur  A 1865 

Rogers,    Edward  1 1869 

Rogers,  George  B 1865 

Rogers,  Julian  A 1865 

Roosevelt,  Cornelius 1864 

Rorer,  Patterson  H .   1871 

Ross,  John  W 1853 

Ross,    William  C 1872 

Rossiter,  Charles  D 1846 

Rossiter,  William  H 1841 

Rouillier,  Gustave 1867 

Rousseau,  Achilles  J 1848 

Rousseau,   L.  A 1846 


Rousseau,  William  W 

Rowland,  Charles  E    

Rowland,  Thomas 

Rua,  Rafael  J 

Russell,  Charles  H 

Rutherford,  Robert  W 

Sabat,  Francisco  R 

Sackett,  Augustus 

Sanchez,  Antonio 

Sanderson,  William 

Sandkuhl,  Henry  G 

Sanford,  George  H 

Sargent,  James  T 

Satterlee,  Edward  R.  Jr.  .  . 

Sauvalle,  Carlos  E 

Sawyer,  Roswell  D 

Sayles,  Charles  E 

Scarborough,  Rev.  George. 

Schanck,  Charles  W 

Scheiner,  Frederick  F 

Schenck,  Daniel  F 

Schermerhorn,  Lewis  Y.  .  . 
Schermerhorn,  Simon  P.  .  . 

Schimpf,  Charles  H 

Schuyler,  William  R 

Scranton,  William  H 

Scribner,  E.  Sheldon 

Selleck,  Theodore  D 

Sento-Se,  Justino  Nunes  de. 

Seward,  George  W 

Sexton,  Pliny  T 

Sharp,  George  N 

Sharpe,  Alexander  H 

Shaw,  John 

Shaw,  William  R 

Shelly,  Frederick 

Shepard,  George  V 

Sherrerd,  Samuel 

Sherrill,  James  H 

Sherwood,  Charles 

Sherwood,  Charles 

Shippen,  Francis 

Shirland,  William  H 

Shoemaker,  Michael  M 

Silliman,  Robert  F 

Simmons,   Duane 

Simmons,  Ovid  T 

Sinnickson,  Clement  H 

Sinnickson,  John  W 

Slataper,  Daniel  L 

Slingerland,  Augustus 

Smith,  Adam  R 

Smith,  Alexander 

Smith,  Charles 

Smith,  Charles  H.  L 

Smith,  Charles  M 


.  1856 
.  1853 
.  1856 
.  1868 
.  1835 
.  1838 
.  1856 
.  1858 
.  1865 
.  1865 
.  1867 
.  1853 
.  1845 
.  1861 
.  1855 
.  1869 
.  1867 
.  1832 
.  1865 
.  1872 
.  1855 
.  1859 
.  1849 
.  1869 
.  1832 
.  1857 
.  1858 
.  1854 
.  1855 
.  1824 
.  1855 
.  1840 
.  1852 
.184! 
.  1843 
.  1854 
.  1863 
.  1835 
.  1841 
.  1824 
.  1832 
.  1869 
.  1870 
.  1869 
.  1844 
.  1851 
.  1852 
.  1852 
1868 
.  1872 
.  1829 
.  1842 
.  1855 
.  1832 
.  1861 
.  1872 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 


8l 


Smith,   George 1824 

Smith,  H.  Martin 1835 

Smith,  Isaac 1832 

Smith,  James  G 1851 

Smith,  J.  Dayton  F ...  1846 

Smith,    Jesse.  M 1865 

Smith,  Joseph  0 1835 

Smith,  J.   Sterling 1853 

Smith,  Orison  B 1863 

Smith,  Walter  M 1851 

Smith,  Warren  S 1835 

Snow,  Charles  L 1863 

Snow,  Frederick  W 1870 

Sollenberger,  John  H 1871 

Southwick,  Lewis  L 1 834 

Spooner,  Manning  L 1868 

Spoor,  Edward  E 1837 

Spoor,  Sylvester  E 1838 

Sprague,  John  W 1 832 

Stanley,  Ethelbert  A 1870 

Starbuck,  N.  Henry 1863 

Starr,  William   C 1854 

Stedman,  William  S 1838 

Stephens,  Clinton  F.  .^ 1864 

Stephens,  Melvin 1862 

Stetson,  Charles  A.  Jr 1854 

Stevens,  Francis  K 1855 

Stevens,    Plowdon 1862 

*Stickney,  Clifford 1854 

Stodder,   James  C 1856 

Stoney,  Edgar  G 1869 

Storm,  Abraham  J 1858 

Storm,  William  McManus. .  .  .  1839 

Stowe,  Frederick  R 1850 

Strader,  John  H 1857 

Strawbridge,  A.  B 1847 

Suffern,  James  A 1835 

Sullivan,  J.  A 1847 

Sutton,    Charles  T 1869 

Sweet,  Stephen 1842 

Swift,  Henry  M 1832 

Swift,  L.  M 1854 

Talbot,  Josiah  M 1832 

Tanco,  Nicholas 1860 

Tator,  Frederick   D 1 848 

Taylor,  George. ..-. 1866 

*Taylor,  John  H 1856 

Taylor,  Stoughton  N 1836 

Ten  Eyck,  Charles    1854 

Ten  Eyck,  Egbert 1854 

Thatcher,  Charles  H 1866 

Thayer,  Asa  P 1832 

*Thayer,  Floyd  S 1870 

Thayer,  H.  E 1846 

Theobald,  W.  W 1837 

Thomas,  William  S 1847 


Thompson,  Alexander  R 1866 

Thompson,  John  1 1846 

Thompson,  Robert  H 1862 

Thompson,  William  A 1850 

Thomson,   John 1829 

*Thorn,  James  S 1852 

Thornton,  George  M 1868 

Thurston,  Robert  B 1 853 

Thurston,  Thomas  W 1854 

Tibbal,   William  A 1871 

Tibbits,  C.  E.  Dudley 1849 

Tibbits,  John  B 1840 

Tilden,  George  H 1869 

Tilghman,  Tench  F 1851 

Tillinghast,  Thomas  A 1835 

*Tinker,   Frederick 1866 

Topp,  Edward  L 1856 

Tracy,  Charles  C 1832 

Tracy,  James  G 1853 

Tribino,  Jose    M 1 869 

Trimble,  James  M 1824 

Trippe,  Frederick  W 1855 

Trott,  John  W 1865 

Trotter,  Edward   A 1854 

Turnbull,   Charles  F 1858 

Turnbull,  Sinclair  G   1860 

Tuttle,  Charles  F 1829 

Twing,  Augustus   W 1849 

Twing,  Cornelius  L. 1852 

Tyler,  Edmund  L 1857 

Tyler,  James  M 1853 

*Underhill,  Charles 1863 

Underbill,  James  W 1832 

Underbill,  John  B 1872 

Underwood,  Warner 1864 

Upson,  Walter  F 1868 

Vail,  Samuel  M 1848 

Valdes,  Leopoldo 1 864 

Valentine,  David  H 1863 

Van  Allen,   E 1829 

Vaudercook,  Wesley 1864 

Vanderpool,  Eugene 1863 

*Vandervoort,  William  A 1863 

Vanleer,   Rush 1 856 

Van  Meerten,  Nicholas  G 1845 

Van  Namee,  Nicholas 1845 

Van  Rensselaer,  Courtland. . .  1824 
Van  Rensselaer,  Westerlo. . . .  1836 
Van  Valkenburgh,  Thomas..  1859 
Vermilye,  Thomas  E.  Jr.  ..  1867 

*Vought,  William  G 1839 

Wade,  Edward 1848 

Walsh,  Braine 1842 

Ward,  H.  H 1850 

Warner,  James  D 1858 

Warren,  Charles  H 1849 


82 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CATALOGUE 


Warren,  Charles  S 1 849 

Warren,   Frank 1863 

Warren,  Henry  B 1 847 

Warren,  John  E 1845 

Warren,  John  H 1844 

Warren,  Joseph  M 1829 

Waters,  William 1863 

Watson,  Leslie  J 1870 

Wead,  Charles  K 1864 

Weaver,  G.  Norman 1869 

Weaver  Louis  H 1848 

Webb,  Albertus 1854 

Webb,  J.  Watson  Jr 1852 

Webb,  J.  Watson  2d 1852 

Welch,  E.  H 1853 

Welling,  Edward  B 1869 

Wellington,    Charles 1849 

Wells,  William  D 1854 

West,  J.  Beckwith 1852 

West,  Preston  C.  F 1851 

Westermann,  Edwin   L 1869 

Westinghouse,  Jay 1855 

Weston,  George  W 1824 

Wheatley,  William  Jr 1871 

Wheelwright,   William 1861 

White,  Joseph  L 1832 

White,    P 1849 

Whipple,  Herman 1839 

Whitlock,  Frank  W 1871 

Whittaker,  John  George...     1837 

Wickham,  Charles  H 1870 

Wickes,  Graham  R 1841 

Wickes,  Stephen 1832 

Wicks,  George  T 1861 

Wikidal,  Edward  A 1870 

Wilkens,  H.  Glyde 1872 

Willard,  John  H 1832 


Willard,  John  P 1 844 

Williams,  Addison  G 1836 

Williams,  Daniel 1829 

Williams,  Eugene  L 1851 

Williams,  George 1824 

Williams,  Malcolm  E   1854 

Williams,  Richard  H 1824 

Williams,  William  S   1850 

Willis,  Hiram  F 1865 

Wilmarth,    Edwin 1829 

Wilson,  Albert  M 1871 

Wintermute,  P.  P 1849 

Winslow,  George  E   1870 

Winslow,  Howard  S 1868 

Witherbee,  Thomas  F 1861 

Wodell,  Isaac  P 1856 

Wood,  Artemas 1853 

Wood,  Thomas  G   1855 

Woodford,  B.  Franklin 1851 

Woodrow,  Harry  E 1867 

Woods,  Charles'  C 1868 

Woollett,  William  M 1867 

Worcester,  George  W 1866 

Wotkyns,  Ttomas  S 1870 

Wright,  Charles   D 1867 

Wright,  John 1824 

Wylie,  John 1856 

Yates,  John  D 1839 

Yeager,  J.  Clifford 1848 

Yorke,  Lewis  E 1848 

Young,  William  E 1849 

Yturbide,  Sabas  J 1866 

*Yvonnett,  Charles  M 1836 

Yznaga,  Marin  F 1857 

Zambrano,  Teofilo 1865 

Ziramermann,  William 1858 


RENSSELAER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE.  83 


SUMMARY. 


Whole  number  of  Trustees, 102 

Number  Elected, 72 

Number  Ex-  Officio, 30 

Number  of  Trustees,  1874, 23 

Whole  number  of  Faculty  and  Instructors, 81 

Number  1874, 13 

Whole  number  of  Students  for  fifty  years,     1632 

Number  of  Graduates, 573 

Number  of  Graduates  deceased, 85 

Number  of  Non-Graduates,  a  large  number  of  whom   entered  only 

for  Special  Courses, 1059 

Number  deceased  so  far  as  known, 38 

Number  of  Students,  1874, 209 


NOTE. 


The  Records  of  the  Institute  were  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  of  1862, 
and  the  list  of  Annual  Catalogues  is  incomplete.  Therefore  it  has  been 
found  very  difficult  to  obtain  the  correct  names  and  dates  for  the  earlier 
years  of  the  Institute.  Without  doubt,  many  errors  will  be  found,  and 
even  some  names  may  have  been  entirely  omitted.  All  information  con- 
cerning graduates  and  former  students  of  the  Institute,  and  also  correc- 
tions of  any  errors  in  this  Catalogue,  are  earnestly  desired,  and  will  be 
carefully  preserved  for  future  editions. 

It  is  proposed  to  publish  as  soon  as  possible  the  "  Records  of  the  Grad- 
uates," and  the  Editor  requests  all  those  who  have  not  yet  responded  to 
the  circulars  sent  out  a  year  ago,  to  do  so  as  soon  as  possible. 

H.  B.  N. 


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